AP Markfed coldstores potatoes to control price

The Andhra Pradesh State Co-operative Marketing Federation Limited (AP Markfed) is thinking long-term. It is purchasing potatoes from Agra and keeping them in cold storages to control price during off-season.

"Our idea is to make potatoes available through rythu bazaars to consumers at a nominal price. Though we are selling at Re 1 or Rs 2 more than the procurement price, the potatoes are of premium quality," A Venkatesulu, general manager, AP Markfed told Business Standard.

It has been observed that during the past two years, the market price during June-September is between Rs 12 and Rs 18 per kg until the stocks from Kolar even out the prices to an extent. The market generally draws more potatoes from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal to meet the demand.

"After seeing the cold storages of Agra and Indore, we purchased 700 tonnes of potatoes of Jyothi variety (graded stock) at Rs 5.50 per kg during the crop season ie, February-March," he said. Potatoes of the Jyothi variety are of uniform size and last for a year in cold storages.

This year, the procurement and cold storage process is on an experimental basis. AP Markfed plans to do it on a large scale at Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada from next year.

Venkatesulu said that they plan to get more stock from Agra cold storages if the present stock is exhausted.

Also, a certain amount of stock would be kept till December to test the quality of potatoes, he added. AP Markfed has tied up with Neethi cold storage, 50 km from here at Sangareddy, for the purpose.

The stock has been released by Markfed through rythu bazaars at Erragadda, Mehdipatnam and Kukatpally and entrusted to Chief Ministers' Employment Yojana (CMEY) groups. The current market price of potatoes in the bazaars is Rs 7-Rs 8 per kg.

Asked if the same cannot be procured from Andhra Pradesh, Venkatesulu said that the potatoes grown in the coastal belt are of Bengal variety and that Andhra's potatoes are not of 'keeping quality'.