Fruit and vegitable growing in uzbekistan

Imports of potatoes to Uzbekistan exceeded half a million tonnes for the first time

 From early January to December 20, 2021, Uzbekistan imported 516.2 thousand tonnes of potatoes, which is 23% more than total imports in 2020. The previous record was set last year: according to EastFruit analysts, the imports of potatoes to Uzbekistan in 2020 amounted to 421 thousand tonnes.
Potatoes have become the main import commodity in Uzbekistan’s fruit and vegetable sector over the past few years. Until 2016, the annual import volume of potatoes did not exceed 50 thousand tonnes per year, and in 2017 it amounted to 194 thousand tonnes. Accordingly, from 2017 to 2021, the volume of imports increased 2.7 times.

By the way, such high imports in 2021 can be considered an achievement, because Uzbekistan was threatened by an acute shortage of potatoes because of a sharp decline in production in Russia and a number of other reasons. The situation can be considered controllable now, and prices have been stabilized. However, they are 56% higher than at the same time in 2021.
To reduce the volume of potato imports, the country plans to dramatically increase the area of ​​potato plantations next year. According to the National News Agency of Uzbekistan, the projected potato planting area in 2022 will amount to 122 thousand hectares, which is 40% more than in 2021. In accordance with the government decision on planting various crops on agricultural land, 86.5 thousand hectares were allocated for planting potatoes in 2021.
However, these plans are most likely not to come true. There is a shortage of planting material, since Uzbekistan cannot yet grow high-quality seed potatoes due to climatic features, and is forced to import them. Imported seed potatoes are too expensive, which makes commercial potatoes grown in Uzbekistan expensive, as well. At the same time, prices for seed potatoes in most countries of the world, from where Uzbekistan buys them (Russia, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Germany and Pakistan), rose sharply in 2021. The cost of transporting has also increased. Thus, the big question is whether it will be possible to increase the area under potatoes by at least 1%.
In addition, in July 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan and the International Potato Center (CIP) launched a five-year program “Improving food security and climate resilience in Uzbekistan through breeding and seed production of potatoes and sweet potatoes”. The expected result of the program is an increase in the yield of potatoes produced in the republic by at least 30%.
Back in early 2021, EastFruit analysts studied the import of potatoes to Uzbekistan and explained why it will be extremely difficult for Uzbekistan to avoid the growth of potato imports in the coming years in an extensive article “Potatoes of Uzbekistan – what caused the high prices and can they be reduced in the future? ”. As you can see, analysts’ forecasts are coming true so far.

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