News
World Potato Congress comments on COVID-19 pandemic halting global trade
The World Potato Congress Inc. (WPC), a global potato network, is leading numerous local potato driven initiatives in developing regions of the world in response to growing food security concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among many economic sectors, the frozen potato products value chain has been “confronted with a true drama” according to WPC. Lockdowns in many countries resulted in closed restaurants and a drop in tourism has significantly reduced the consumption of processed frozen potato products.
“Millions of tonnes of potatoes will not be processed this year creating a disastrous financial situation for farmers and processors. Free distribution to food banks, use as animal feed and as a source of green energy will not be sufficient to utilize the mountains of potatoes. The risk of a so called ‘second wave’ of the virus and a possible renewal of the lock down measures will also affect next season’s crop,” the WPC explained in a media release.
“The socio-economic problems created by this in Western Europe and parts of North America will be minor compared to the likelihood of food insecurity and famine in many developing countries,” WPC added, noting that major suppliers of staple cereals, such as China, Vietnam and Russia, have limited exports.
According to a report by Reuters, Russia agreed to limit grain exports to 7 million tonnes from April to June to conserve supplies for the domestic market during the coronavirus outbreak. Other countries such as Cambodia and Egypt, also limited or completely banned exports of some agricultural products. However, one of Bloomberg’s latest reports, as of May 4, stated that “the wave of protectionist measures on agricultural goods that emerged as the coronavirus spread around the world has already begun to recede.” The Bloomberg report also broke down export limitations by country.
Click here to read the full article.
Source : freshplaza.eu
Latest News
The President and CEO of the World Potato Congress Inc. (WPC), Mr. Romain Cools, Belgium and the Chairman of the WPC Industry Awards Committee, Mr. Tamas Houlihan, Executive Director of…
The World Potato Congress Inc. Board of Directors is extremely pleased to announce Potatoes South Africa as WPC’s first Sustaining Partner from Africa. President & CEO Romain Cools stated: “With…
Romain Cools, President and CEO of the World Potato Congress Inc. (WPC) is pleased to announce that three new Directors are being be appointed to its Board effective July 1,…
World Potato Congress Inc. Webinar June 25, 2020 at 09:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time with Burkhard Kuhlmann Presenting: “Mechanisation Levels for the Global Potato Industry” The World Potato Congress Inc.…
The World Potato Congress Inc. (WPC), a global potato network, is leading numerous local potato driven initiatives in developing regions of the world in response to growing food security concerns…
COVID-19 has shaken the whole world impacting society and the global economy similar to the effect of a world war. Among many economic sectors, the frozen potato products value chain…
World Potato Congress Webinar May 05, 2020 at 09:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time with Dr. Monica Parker Presenting: “Diversified Use of Apical Cuttings to Boost Potato Seed Systems” World Potato…
WPC is pleased to continue its webinar series and is extremely pleased to have Dr. Alex Karasev present “Potato Viruses: An Update”. ABSTRACT Viruses affect potato in two ways, by…
The World Potato Congress is extremely pleased to be offering its third webinar in 2020 featuring Dr. Leah Tsror. Powdery scab causes significant economic damage in potato production worldwide due…
www.worldpotatomarkets.com The increase in world potato production stalled in 2018 and failed to recover significantly in 2019. World output slipped by =1.5% to 368.247 million tonnes in 2018 figures just…