[Business Scene] Will the ban on Tuberite decimate potato production in Međimurje?

While most entrepreneurs cite the 2020 pandemic and the 2022 war in Ukraine as challenging circumstances in business, Međimurje potato producers faced two even greater evils last year – severe drought and the European ban on the use of Tuberite, a sprouting inhibitor for potatoes. 

We spoke with Mirjana Dodlek, the largest domestic producer for the Croatian market, which annually supplies 15-16 thousand tons of potatoes from its own cultivation and about 30 cooperators. Only Intersnack Adria and Kanaan produce more than him, but those companies do not sell potatoes on the market; they process them into chips.

Last year’s average potato yield fell from 20 to 15 tons per hectare, and production dropped by 28 percent – from 140,000 tons to 101,000. We ask what this means for Međimurje growers.  

– Last year was exceptionally bad for potato production due to the extreme drought in this area, and yields were extremely low, but also due to the withdrawal of a significant portion of producers from production due to the abolition of the active substance chlorpropham found in the well-known powder for dusting potatoes against sprouting, Tuberite – explains Dodlek.

Due to the ban on Tuberite last year, Dodlek and his cooperators had to invest 60 million kuna  in the construction of new storage facilities for potatoes with a capacity of 13 thousand tons to survive in the market.

– However, we received non-refundable funds from EU funds for part of the investment, but we still have 25 million kuna left to repay.  The abolition of this preparation made it impossible for many producers to enter further potato production because they had to build new storage facilities with ventilation and cooling in a very short time and prepare for a new method of treating potatoes against sprouting, which is fogging through applicators and using new sprouting inhibitors that are allowed in the EU. This is a significant investment and a long-term commitment to production and storage – explains Dodlek.

His new storage facility is not the only one in Međimurje; several others have been built, but they have significantly smaller capacities than what was previously stored in ordinary storage facilities with Tuberite. The vast majority, especially smaller producers, have given up production for this reason and switched to grain production.

By the way, Međimurje potatoes are renowned for a production tradition that has existed in this area for over 60 years, but Dodlek claims there is no difference compared to Lika potatoes.

– All of us producers procure seed material from the EU, practically the same varieties from the same seed houses, so I do not see why Lika potatoes would be better than Međimurje potatoes, or Međimurje potatoes better than Lika, Istrian… and so on. Unfortunately, there is no local variety anywhere in Croatia, including Međimurje, because all producers in Croatia procure seed potatoes from the Netherlands, Germany, and France, as unfortunately, there has been no seed production here since more than 20 years ago due to poor productivity.

We ask if there are any differences between potatoes by regions? 

– Each region in Croatia has its advantages and disadvantages, so it is difficult to answer this question, but for example, Lika potatoes are protected as a brand, which brings them certain benefits in sales, but those are small quantities. Istrian potatoes are produced on certain areas exclusively for sale as new potatoes due to the climatic conditions of early planting (in February), they come to market at the end of May, and harvesting and sales finish no later than mid-July, which brings them certain advantages and benefits. In  Međimurje, however, potato production is based on later sales – from mid-July until the end of May the following year, as the goods are stored – says Mirjan Dodlek.

Even potato cultivation has not been spared from the wild fluctuations in input costs. Blue diesel has increased by one hundred percent, the price of artificial fertilizers, which account for 35 percent of potato production, is up by 350 percent, the price of protective agents has increased by 20 percent, and the price of seed material was slightly higher for this season, only 5-7 percent, but an increase is expected for the next season, lists Dodlek and adds another significant jump in costs – the construction of new modern storage facilities for potatoes according to new EU standards, there is also an increase in electricity prices, and the new fogging agent for potatoes against sprouting is even ten times more expensive per kilogram of potatoes compared to the old Tuberite.

Nevertheless, all this has not shaken the largest potato producer:

– Our medium-term and long-term plans are to increase production as much as the increase in hectares allows us and certainly to work on the quality of potatoes both in production and in storage, preparation, and packaging – concludes Mirjan Dodlek.

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