Description
The Patata Kato Nevrokopiou PGI is an edible tuber of the Solanum tuberosum plant, cultivated in its main varieties Spunta, Agria and Liseta.
Production Area
The production area of the Patata Kato Nevrokopiou PGI is within the municipal areas of Kato Nevrokopi, Kato Vrontou, Perithori, Dassoto, Levkogeia, Chrissokefalos, Ochyro, Vathytopos and Katafyto, in the Drama prefecture, within the administrative region of East Macedonia and Thrace.
Production Method
The potato is cultivated in the summertime. Often crop rotation is practiced on the ground, and generally wintertime cereals, or maize or beans are planted prior to the potatoes. Anytime crop rotation is not practiced, the preceding cultivation is obviously the potato in the summertime. Sowing starts in the first ten days of April and lasts from 20 to 30 days, according to the meteorological conditions. During the springtime, a ploughing and a milling procedure are normally executed on the fertilized ground, followed by the weeding. Irrigation through sprinkling starts when the plants are approximately 15-20 cm high, and varies according to the quantity of rainfall. The tubers are usually ripe at the end of July, so harvesting can start at the beginning of September until the end of October, before the autumn rains arrive.
Appearance and Flavour
The Patata Kato Nevrokopiou PGI is renowned in all of Greece for its taste and its superior quality.
History
The history of the Patata Kato Nevrokopiou PGI is linked to the potato cultivation practice dating back to the beginning of the 1920s on the Kato Nevrokopi plateau. It then spread to the entire prefecture of Drama, and to the Kavala prefecture at the beginning of the following decade. At that time, cultivation was done by hand, with the only help of animals, and yields were still fairly low. In the mid-1960s, though, after protective banks against the flooding provoked by the torrents Nevrokopi and Vathitopos were constructed, as well as with the introduction of new varieties, potato-growing spread further, to the detriment of the tobacco cultivation, which was gradually abandoned. Currently potato-growing covers approximately 2,500 hectares in the production area.
Gastronomy
20-40% of the Patata Kato Nevrokopiou PGI production is commercialised for immediate consumption, while the remainder is kept in warehouses, in optimal conditions, without artificial refrigeration and without making use of anti-germination preparations. These products are then gradually sold off during the entire winter and up to the end of April. This product can be consumed in all common potato typical manners, and can be used for the preparation of some typical Greek dishes, such as the musaka and the briam.
Marketing
The product is sold as Patata Kato Nevrokopiou PGI. It is marketed as a consumption potato, which has not received preliminary industrial transformations. Thus, it can be consumed directly or can be used as industry potato and be submitted to industrial treatments, for the preparation of various food products, such as, for example, dried potatoes, crisps or mashed potatoes.
Distinctive Features
The Patata Kato Nevrokopiou PGI is renowned in all of Greece for its excellent quality, due mainly to the pedoclimatic characteristics of the production area.