Chinsurah: The bumper potato harvest this farming season has turned into a cause of concern for the cultivators as they fear if the government sticks to its policy of not exporting tubers to other states, they might have to be at a loss, fering a steep fall in prices.
According to the agriculture department, the potatoes have been cultivated at a massive scale in Hooghly which is expected to result in a bumper yield. Potato traders fear this might land the cultivators in trouble if the government doesn't formulate a policy this year.
Hooghly, Bardhaman, South 24 Paraganas and some districts of North Bengal produce most of the potatoes in the state and states like Bihar, Odisha, Assam and Bangladesh bank on the import from West Bengal. There is a possibility of chaos over the potato if the state government doesn't take the matter up with seriousness.
"The yield of potato depend on the climatic condition. The whole matter has been observed and decisions will be taken accordingly," Agriculture Minister Becharam Manna said.
Last year, potato was sown in 44,000 hectares in Hooghly but adverse climate affected the yield which stood at 27 tonnes per hectare. This year the area of cultivation stands at 92,000 hectares and it is expected that a bigha will yield 70 sacks of potatoes.
"This year the acarage has increased significantly than last year and there has been no instance of pest attacks. But in some cases, stem rot has been noticed and the farmers have been advised on its cure. The yield is expected to be higher this year," Mriyunjay Mardana, deputy director of agriculture for Hooghly, said.
Asit Bag, a sharecropper, said, "The yield will be higher this year. But if the government doesn't think about the exports this time, the farmers won't be able to recover the input cost. Potatoes are selling for Rs 3 a kilo which is insufficient to recover the cost of pesticides and fertilisers. We will be at stake if things continue like this."
Parroting Bag, another sharecropper Bablu Pandit said, "Despite a good yield, we won't be getting the expected prices. We expected a bigha will produce 70 sacks of potatoes for which we invested Rs 23,000 per bigha. Most of us are sharecroppers and the landowners need to be paid a share of whatever we get."
"There is a reason behind the farmers getting less price as the state government imposed a ban on the inter-state export of potatoes for price stabilisation, leading to an excessive stock at cold storages. About 2 lakh tonnes are still lying in Medinipur. The new potatoes are not getting prices due to this," Subhajit Saha, deputy secretary of the Cold Storage Association, said.
"Currently the prices are at Rs 7 per kg which is much lower than last year. Now a 50 kg or a sackful of potatoes is selling at Rs 320 and a kg is selling at the markers in the range of Rs 12 to Rs 16. A government task force needs to be set up to look into the pricing as farmers are getting much less than the market price," he added.
Lalu Mukhopadhyay, general secretary of Potato Traders Association said, "About eight metric tonnes of additional yield is expected this year. But prices will not be higher. This year, the government must formulate a policy on the stock and trade of potatoes and mull over the minimum support price,"
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