ROME, 15. december 2008: Expansion of world potato production is vital to food security, but booming potato production in the developing world could falter because of global economic slowdown warned a new report from FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Monday.
The threat comes at a time when potatoes have become an important staple food and a lucrative cash crop in many developing countries.
The global economic slowdown threatens to reduce flows to developing countries of investment and development assistance, including the support to agriculture that has helped many countries strengthen their potato sectors.
Developed countries may be tempted to raise trade barriers, which already apply stiff tariffs on imported potato products, while the banking crisis will leave many farmers with no credit to invest in production in 2009.
Currently, potato yields in Africa, Asia and Latin America average just 15 tonnes per hectare, less than half of those achieved in Western Europe and North America.
To strengthen potato farming in developing countries, FAO and the International Potato Center have called for “potato science at the service of the poor” to provide potato growers with better quality planting material, varieties that are more resistant to pests, diseases, drought and climate change, and farming systems that make more sustainable use of natural resources.
Kilde: www.fao.org
