L'offre de pommes de terre en France de 1950 à 1973

In value, potatoes count for little in farming and food, but their price fluctuation and the fact that they are a basic commodity justify a more thorough economic analysis. The present study attempts to provide an explanation for the variation in area of the different categories of potatoes - seed potatoes, new potatoes, potatoes for canning and for industrial starch production. The influence of the cost of input and of substitutes (maize, vegetables) and the relationship between the various categories of potatoes from the point of view of supply are analysed. The elasticity is small, as one might expect : it is greater in the long term for seed potatoes and starch production than for new and processed potatoes. The latter group presents a more speculative character than the former which shows a distinct tendancy to depend on production structures.