"Potatoes are left, production may stop" is the front page of the Turkish Cypriot newspaper "Kypris", which quotes the president of the potato producers' union, Engin Halkseven, who, among other things, said that the consumption of potatoes in the occupied pandemic of COVID-19 and that many producers, including himself, have reached the point of stopping production.
Mr Halkseven said that due to the closure of hotels and the return of students to their home countries, the monthly consumption of potatoes fell from 1,200 tonnes to 700 tonnes.
He also said that the producers suffered a great loss, and that many producers would be in debt due to the damage they would suffer from the fact that they were left with 4-5 thousand tons of potatoes and would not be able to cover their expenses.
He also said, according to the publication, that due to the closure of the roadblocks, the potatoes that would be sold in the democratically controlled areas were left, adding that there is an overproduction of potatoes in the free areas and there will be no demand for potatoes from the Greek Cypriots when they open. the roadblocks.
He said that the selling price of potatoes fell below 2,35 TL (30 euro cents) which is the cost price of the producer and added that the producers came to the point of stopping production due to the heavy loss.
Source: KYPE