LAHORE, Feb 23: The exporters have suspended potato exports after a substantial drop in crop production due to the prolonged frosty spells in the months of December and January.

While the extent of the drop in potato yield is still being worked out by the Punjab government, conflicting reports about it have already pushed the price to unprecedented level in month of February, which is crop’s harvesting period.

Though the farmers fear that potato production may drop by even 50 per cent, the official figures put it at 25 per cent against an expected production of 1.95 million tons.

“Though potato exports have almost been static for the last five years, they would almost be nil this season and the exporters would run the risk of losing traditional market,” says an exporter from the city. He said the potato export was stuck at an average of 50,000 tons, with Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Malaysia as major markets.

Potatoes from Pakistan were exported from autumn crop, which is 85 per cent of the total national production. Thereafter, potatoes placed in traditional cold storage became sweet due to increased sucrose level, rendering them unacceptable in the world market, he said.

The existing varieties of Pakistani potatoes were already among the least preferred in the international market, he said. In addition to that, the potatoes were shipped through non-reefer containers, and their quality gets affected and these factors directly hit exports, he said.