Mexico’s Potato Sector Converges on CONPAPA 2026 as Costs and Imports Squeeze Growers

Mexico’s National Potato Congress opens 14–16 October in Mexico City, marking CONPAPA’s 35th anniversary as growers face production costs near MXN 300,000 per hectare and rising competition from imported frozen fries.

Mexican potato growers meet this week at a moment of strain. The Confederación Nacional de Productores de Papa de la República Mexicana holds the twentieth edition of its National Potato Congress — CONPAPA 2026 — from 14 to 16 October at the Centro Banamex in Mexico City, PotatoPro reported on 12 October.

Under the motto “La papa mexicana frente al futuro” (“The Mexican potato facing the future”), the event aims to push innovation, productivity and competitiveness in a chain contending with higher production costs, variable weather and growing competition from imported products. The edition coincides with CONPAPA’s 35th anniversary and will feature conferences, panels, technical workshops, a trade exhibition, business meetings and gastronomic activities.

CONPAPA’s own history mirrors the sector’s trade integration: its activities began in 1988, arising from the negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Canada (NAFTA), when Mexican producers needed an organization with representation before the official and commercial institutions of the three nations.

The agenda rests on four pillars: innovation and productivity; commercialisation and exports; sustainability and plant health; and alliance-building among producers, industry, suppliers, financial institutions and authorities. Organisations linked to the event include the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development, SENASICA, the Consejo Nacional Agropecuario, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and FIRA. The trade show spans seed, crop protection, fertilisation, machinery, precision agriculture and processing companies; Sabritas, Syngenta, Yara, BASF, Bayer, Corteva and New Holland appear among the announced sponsors and exhibitors.

The figures circulated by CONPAPA for the meeting sketch the sector’s weight — and its cost problem. Mexico counts more than 8,000 potato producers across 22 states, farming over 68,000 hectares with a production value exceeding MXN 20,000 million. The organisation estimates production cost at close to MXN 300,000 per hectare. Seed accounts for roughly 32% of that, followed by post-harvest transport at 23%, fertilisation at 13.5%, and pest, disease and weed control at 12%. Those numbers explain why the congress agenda leans heavily on agronomic efficiency, seed quality and technologies that cut losses and lift yields.

The market context adds urgency. While Mexico has improved yields and output over recent decades, a growing share of consumption is shifting toward processed products — particularly frozen pre-fried potatoes — and much of that demand is still supplied by imports. That raises hard questions about the sector’s capacity to build new industrial alternatives, connect growers with foodservice demand and compete in higher-value formats.

CONPAPA has also warned that finishing harvests, lower yields in some zones and reduced planted area in certain regions could progressively limit national supply and pressure prices between December 2026 and February 2027. Against that backdrop, the congress offers a space to discuss not just how to produce more, but how to aim production at the segments with the best commercial prospects. For international observers, Mexico’s December–February supply outlook is the number to watch.