On 09/05/05, Gabriel de Figueiredo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- "Frederick Noronha (FN)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > A potato success story unfolds in Agra (FEATURE)
> There is more than one type of potato, and not all > potatoes are suitable for all dishes, e.g. potatoes > that are good for mashing, others good for eating > plain-boiled. Are there any grading of potatoes > carried out in India? Or are they all sold as > all-purpose potatoes? > > Cheers, > > Gabriel de Figueiredo. > Melbourne - Australia. RESPONSE: See the following:- http://www.potatobusinessworld.com/view_news.do?no=111 India set to become prominent figure in Asian potato industry When the Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) was established in 1949, India produced about 1.5m tonnes from 234,000 hectares (ha), and an average yield of around 6.5 tonnes per ha. In recent years total production for the area reached 223m tonnes from 1.3m ha with an average yield around 18 tonnes per ha. India is now the world's fourth largest potato producer, but its share of world exports has fluctuated and never exceeded 0.5%. Most Indian potatoes are harvested from January to March when fresh potatoes are not generally available in the northern hemisphere, and this should be an export opportunity for India since it already exports table potatoes to many neighbouring countries including Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. Varieties in demand are Kufri Sindhuri and Kufri Jyoti in Nepal and Bangladesh, Kufri Chandramukhi in Afghanistan. India is gradually becoming an important supplier of frozen French fries to Mauritius, UAE, Sri Lanka, and the Asean countries, while international companies are now becoming more important as a source of supply for their global French fries. McCain Foods has recently expanded its contract potato scheme with farmers, especially in Gujarat, while its new owners McDonald's has also expanded its whole potato and partially processed exports. In addition locally produced potato crisps, potato flour, starch, dehydrated chips and flakes are being exported to countries in the EU, North America, and ASEAN region. It is on these products that Indian processors should concentrate according to a recent survey of the industry's export potential. Canned or baby potatoes, and dried or canned military rations could also be a viable source of revenue. Three local varieties are very suitable for processing, Kufri Jyoti, Kufri Chandramukhi and Kufri Lavkar, and two specially bred for processing, Kufri Chipsona-1 and -2. A projection of the International Food Policy Research Institute and the International Potato Centre stated that world demand for potatoes will rise by 40% by 2020, and the CPRI is also confident that India's potato production will then be nearly 50m tonnes. Potatoes production in many developed countries is reportedly decreasing, and thus it is imperative that the Indian Government, the industry, and growers co-operate to ensure that India can take advantage of this great opportunity. comment: Special potatoes were required by McDonalds for their French fries......... Cheers, Gabe Menezes. London, England
