The prices of local Shan potatoes go higher than Chinese ones. On 23 August, the Chinese potato was priced at K2,050 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kilogrammes), whereas the local Shan potato from the Aungban area fetched K1,400-2,200 per viss.
On 24 August, Chinese potato prices were estimated at K2,000 per viss while potatoes from the Aungban area moved in the range of K1,400 to K2,150 per viss. Chinese potato prices were higher than Shan potatoes from 16 to 18 August. The price of Chinese potato stood at K2,350 in those three days, while Shan potato fetched K2,150 per viss, a trader Ko Chit Ko told the Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM).
Chinese potato is mostly utilized in curry but Shan potato is commonly used in potato chip businesses. Shan potato is larger than Chinese one and the price is greater these days, the GNLM quoted Ko Swe Win, a trader, as saying.
Earlier, a popular brand potato chip business needed 500 potato bags per day. This year, potato sales to those businesses declined amid the high prices of potatoes and palm oil.
The potatoes cultivated in April are being harvested in August. Some growers commence potato cultivation. The price collapse in 2020 drove the potato plantation acres down. In 2021, the number of growers rose again.
There are around 16,000 acres of potatoes in Shan hill. The yield rate per acre is estimated at 4,000 visses in the rainy season. The cultivation cost per acre is around K6 to 7 million. Therefore, the capital for potato cultivation is K1,500-1,600 per viss. In 2020, the production cost per acre was K2.5 million, that is, K500-700 per viss, according to a report cited by an official of the Naungtaya area Potato Growers Association during a TV interview broadcast on 12 August.
The rising cost of agricultural inputs pushed the potato price to K1,700 per viss in the Yangon market.
The potato price hit a record high of K2,500 per viss in the wholesale market during the second week of December 2021, allowing the growers to earn well, the onion and potato warehouses stated.
As rotten potatoes can make others rot easily, rotten potatoes are removed from the warehouses. The damaged potatoes are priced at K3,000-4,000 per bag. Some resell those potatoes after cutting off the rotted part of the potato, Ko Aye Myint involved in processing potatoes told the GNLM. – TWA/GNLM
