RIGA, July 4 (LETA) - In places where potatoes have sprouted despite heavy rains and floods in May and June, the harvest could be good enough, Aiga Kraukle, chairwoman of the Potato Growers and Processors Union, told LETA.

She noted that water was still accumulating in some fields and there were areas where potatoes have rotted. However, where water accumulated after the potatoes had sprouted, the situation is good enough. However, the overall impact of this year's weather on the potato harvest cannot yet be predicted, as harvest is still about two months away and the crop is yet to mature.

Kraukle mentioned that potato growers in Jaunpils, Dignaja municipality and Varaklani have been significantly affected by the rains and flooding, adding that the situation in Vidzeme as a whole was very different depending on the areas, and that the most flooded areas were in the Madona Region, but there are no large potato growers in this region.

Asked how potato growers could cope with the bad weather, the Union's chairwoman stressed that there was little that farmers could do, and that they could only wait until the water drained away and the fields could be furrowed and the necessary crop protection measures could be taken.

The Union of Potato Growers and Processors is an association registered in 1997 with 30 members. The aim of the organization is to bring together potato growers and processors to coordinate their activities in order to defend their common interests, promote cooperation, market development and protection of the internal market, as well as to represent their interests in relations with public authorities, administrations and other institutions in Latvia and abroad.