Inflation is declining, as it went from 9.3% in July to 8.8% in August, according to the latest report on price changes from the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI). Likewise, the inflation of food and beverages has had a very slight drop, going from 13.9% to 13.3%. Still, this slight improvement is not seen in all the products that Peruvians consume, such as potatoes, which have continued to rise.
The prices of yellow potatoes and huayro potatoes in Metropolitan Lima increased from July to August by 16.6% and 8.8%, respectively. Regarding the average prices of 2019, the value of yellow potatoes, white potatoes and huayro potatoes increased by 114%, 57% and 166%. In the case of the yellow potato, only in the last month, its price has risen 8% and the huayro potato by 30%.
Economists maintain that the problem is that if fertilizer is more expensive, agricultural producers will begin to use less and less of them or, de facto, they will not buy urea. This will directly affect food production in the country.
Due to this situation, there are less and less potatoes available in the Peruvian market. The prices of agricultural goods such as potatoes are seasonal, in September the price of potatoes usually rises, but this year the increase is even greater than in September 2019, 2020 and 2021. That is the effect of the more expensive urea as well as other costs, such as transportation, which have also risen.
Source: ruetir.com