Thousands of potato farmers in the potato belt of Uttar Pradesh have been forced to give up their traditional crop, owing to enormous fertiliser and Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) shortage, expensive seeds and irrigation problems this season. The potato prices had risen to giddy heights of Rs 1,800 per quintal during the sowing season, forcing the small and marginal peasants to search for alternative crops, being unable to afford such pricey seeds.
According to Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) district president Alok Tomar, around 40,000 small and marginal peasants have this year shifted to mustard and other oilseed cultivation after a span of almost one decade.
“The marginal peasants were also the worst affected by the drought conditions last year, which had ruined their maize and paddy yields. The farmers had been undergoing losses since 2008 when the potato prices nosedived and the following year was ruined by the unforeseen drought,” he added.
The continued losses coupled with the expensive seed prices and DAP scarcity have put the peasants in heavy debts with no money for sowing potato in Rabi season. These farmers had sold all their potato produce in the market, attracted by the remunerative prices and expected the cold storage owners to lend seeds for sowing, which however turned to be a facade when the owners refused.
According to the state agriculture department statistics, although the potato acreage, fuelled by remunerative prices last year, has registered a net increase of around 3,000 hectares, the number of potato farmers has dropped by around 25 per cent. The department also cites the increased acreage of mustard by around 50 per cent as the reason for the drop in number of potato farmers.
“Last year around 25,000 peasants had sown mustard over an area of 10,000 hectares, which has risen to 50,000 peasants sowing on 15,000 hectares,” said district agriculture officer C L Yadav. He, however, views the shift in a positive light and said the increased oilseed acreage was advantageous for increasing ground water level as oilseeds consumed 25 per cent more water than potato.