(3 Minutes Read)
The price of potatoes is slated to soar by more than 100% on the back of damages caused by July’s black frost in Limpopo. Limpopo is the largest producer of the staple crop in South Africa. Potatoes SA said it is still assessing the extent of the damage to the crops, and the crops of some farmers had been decimated.
Some farmers got a total wipe out and some farmers received a burn. The tricky part is how old the potatoes were when they got frost. Some potatoes were one week from harvest and others were one week old. Some potatoes still have a chance to recover. From initial surveys, it appears that about 1 800 hectares of potatoes have been affected by the frost.
Thabile Nkunjane, the National Agricultural Marketing Council’s economist, said that because Limpopo is the largest supplier of potatoes, the effect of the frost on yields, supply, and the price of the crop will be felt more significantly. Nkunjane said the price fluctuations would be felt towards the end of August and into early September when the potatoes would have gone to the market had they not been damaged. He added that demand could soar towards the end of the year.
Potatoes are still below the R80 per 10kg mark, which is considered cheap compared with about R120 for 10kg late last year, when load-shedding and input costs pushed prices up. Nkunjane added that with the damage yet to be determined, the prices could rise in the short-term.
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Farmers with crop insurance will experience financial relief, which might bring continuity in production, but this can again impact supply and price later during the year or at the beginning of next year. Unfortunately, not many of the farmers have crop insurance in place as this is a big expense, which means that this positive market dynamic is not currently a cushion for the potato industry.
