Ecuador
papa
Year2007
Production
390 500 tons
Harvested area
128 440 acres
Yield
3.04 tons/acre
Ecuador's Andean region lies within the potato's area of genetic diversity, and particularly rich diversity of wild potato is found in central Ecuador. Cultivation is generally undertaken by small-scale farmers with less than 12 acres of land, one of which is typically devoted to potato.
Input costs and the higher profitability of other crops has led to marked fluctuations in the country's potato output: over the past decade, total production has fallen from around half a million to less than 400 000 tons, while the cultivated area has shrunk from 160,000 acres to around 130 000.
Potato production is becoming more commercially oriented in response to demand from Ecuador's growing urban sector, which accounts for more than 60 percent of the population. Almost all the potatoes produced are consumed locally, with per capita consumption around 55 lb per year.
Further details from CIP's World Potato Atlas