Serres: Greek potatoes are rotting in warehouses – Producers are at an impasse

Almost 3,000 tons of potatoes remain stored in Serres, with producers seeing their product rotting in warehouses.

The decrease in demand compared to previous years reaches 80%. As the potato producers of Ano Vrontos Serres point out in their memorandum, “a large amount of unsold potatoes, which almost reaches the level of our total annual production, remains in our warehouses, with the risk that, due to the improvement of weather conditions (rising temperatures), it will deteriorate and as we move towards in the summer to deteriorate and finally to be sent to the landfills at an additional expense”.

Uncontrolled potato imports

The drop in demand is observed, according to the producers, “due to the uncontrolled potato imports from other countries (Turkey, Egypt, etc.), the quality of which is unknown to the consumer. Added to this is the absence of systematic advertising of Greek potato quality by state agencies, as is the case with other sectors of the country’s economic and productive activities.”

The sale or absorption of the production, in addition to a solution to the specter of their absolute impoverishment, will also cover the costs of the upcoming 2023 growing season, which is why the producers are asking for an immediate solution to the problem they are facing.

It should be noted that the situation is similar in the community of Orini, but also in the Nevrokopi basin of Drama.