Good agricultural practices: the case of potato production in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina

The main objective of this study is to investigate the potential implementation of Good Agricultural Practices in potato production, in the southeast Province of Buenos Aires. Argentina. The methods used to deal with the main economic variables (price, import and export value and volume) affecting domestic and foreign markets were quantitative techniques. This research also analysed if growers, traders and consumers are familiar with this Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), using data from focus group and other types of qualitative research techniques. The results indicate that the overcoming obstacles in GAP implementation and adopting these Good Agricultural Practices are the sociocultural characteristics of the growers, the weak awareness among growers and other industry stakeholders (producers, wholesalers, processors and retailers) and the modest role played by Argentina in the potato export markets. Consumers need to be educated and encouraged to stimulate the demand for safe and quality foods like potato. The implementation of GAP may be limited by the capacity of government organization to provide resources and technical training. The strong support of government policy makers is very important to overcome obstacles in GAP implementation in our country.