Potato prices fall in Romania after good crops & Russian embargo

Potato prices went down by nearly 36% last year in Romania due to overproduction in Europe and to the Russian embargo, reaching the lowest price in the last 20 years and triggering farmers to sell their crops below production costs, according to George Botoman, President of the National Federation of Potatoes. "Last year there was a very high potato crop throughout Europe, not only in Romania, and this has put pressure on prices. Another reason for the decreasing prices is the Russian ban on European producers, who had to enter different markets, including Romania," said Botoman, cited by local Mediafax. The domestic potato production exceeded 3.5 million tonnes last year, compared to the 3.25 million tonnes in 2013. editor@romania-insider.com