At least 100,000 tons of potatoes were exported to Uzbekistan in 2024. The First Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry of Kyrgyzstan, Zhanybek Kerimaliev, announced at a meeting of the Committee on Budget, Economic and Fiscal Policy of the Parliament.
According to him, a year earlier, the volume of potato exports to Uzbekistan was only 30,000 tons.
An increase in potato prices was registered in Kyrgyzstan in February. At that time, the Ministry of Agriculture reported that it was «monitoring the stability of potato prices throughout the republic.» It was noted that the country had sufficient potato reserves, but intermediaries were inflating prices.
The issue of introducing a ban on potato exports was also considered, but it was later announced that restrictions would not be introduced in order to give Kyrgyz farmers an opportunity to export their products.
According to the ministry, Kyrgyzstan annually harvests about 1.2 million tons of potatoes. The domestic demand is 700,000 tons, 150,000 are used for seeds for the next harvest, and the rest is exported.
