TAD News Desk, New Delhi: This festive season, in Diwali, let’s plan to curb carbs not just to stay fit but to adjust your pocket. The staple Indian food in every household, potato is raked at high prices now, and there is no expectation of decrease as such unless the fresh crops from Uttar Pradesh reach the vegetable market.
Till the new crops reach the stalls, wholesale prices would touch Rs40/kg from the current Rs34/kg, due to unavailability of large stocks. Retail prices are no hard to imagine.
Uttar Pradesh’s potato traders, the largest potato-producer state, said that half of the buffer stock was offloaded and the rest would be sent to market in coming weeks.
Arvind Agarwal, President of UP cold storage association said, “By Diwali, wholesale prices of potatoes are expected to touch Rs 40 per kg. After Diwali, the new crop will slowly start arriving. Price correction will only happen in the first week of December, when there will be ample supply of potatoes.”
West Bengal and Punjab, two other major producers of potatoes, are following a similar trend in the price curve. Potato farmers are also troubled by the high prices of potato seeds. The concern for UP potato farmers has increased because the seed prices have been doubled to Rs.50/Kg however, Yogi government is facilitating seeds at Rs.32/Kg.
There have been 20 percent dip in annual production of potatoes in UP, from 15.5 million tones in 2019 to 12.2 million tones this year.
Agarwal mentioned the cause of cheer in potato farmers of the state was the rising prices which they had to sell at lower prices than production rate due to glut in production in consecutive years.
Agarwal further added, “It is expected that the acreage will be up by 5% – 10%.” The high potato prices have filled farmers with enthusiasm to produce more of the crop, next year.
The second largest producer state of potatoes, West Bengal has wholesale prices shot up to Rs.30-34/Kg from Rs.16-18/Kg in May. Similar is the case in Punjab.
There is a high demand for potatoes in the market due to the pandemic and the lockdown situation, as potatoes can be stored for long without getting rot.
Traders are of the view that the new ordinance, Farming produce trade and commerce (promotion and facilitation), has also played a role in the surge of the prices. This ordinance came into force in June, which aims to facilitate a barrier-free trade in agricultural produce.
Patit Paban Dey believes that the market would soften once the fresh produce from UP would start coming into the market. He is a member of the West Bengal cold storage association. He further added, “Prices at the wholesale level may fall below Rs 30 per kg.”
Source – The Economic Times
