Potato prices, already firm on low supplies, are expected to surge in the coming days with upcoming festivals spurring demand, traders said today. But prices should stabilise with the arrival of new crop in October, they said.
Potato prices have doubled across the country in the last two months. Demand from some of the potato growing states like West Bengal, Bihar and Karnataka was increasing as this year they were depending on supplies from other states.
Large quantities of potato crop in Hasan in Karnataka and several regions in West Bengal and adjoining Bihar have been destroyed due to late blight disease that struck last year, dealers said.
Blight disease, which occurs due to less-than-required sunlight, hits potato output as it affects leaves of the plant.
“It is because of lower output that demand is continuously rising from these states,” said Satinder Pal Setia, vice president of Agra potato mandi.
“In the coming days, prices are likely to soar due to the upcoming festivals,” Setia said, adding prices should ease with supplies from the new crop in October.
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Currently, retail prices of fresh potato in Delhi’s Azadpur spot market are hovering between Rs 22 and Rs 25 a kg, up Rs 18 from last month, while wholesale prices are at Rs 1,800 per 80 kg, up Rs 1,500 from August, a trader here said.
Potatoes from cold storages are selling at Rs 1,000-1,300 per 80 kg against Rs 600-650 during June-July.
Prices of the commodity in Punjab too have risen because of lower supplies, Subash Chandra Khurana, a Punjab-based trader said. Potato arrivals from production centres in Shimla have dipped to about five trucks currently (1 truck = 12 tonne), against the normal 30-40 trucks, Khurana said.
He sees prices increasing by Rs 2 a kg over the next two days.
Wholesale potato prices in Agra too are expected to rise to about Rs 1,100 per 50 kg, from the current Rs 750, Setia said.
In West Bengal, potato is currently quoted at Rs 16-18 per 12 kg, up Rs 3-5 from last month, said P C Sarkar, state’s director of agriculture, tuber and plantation. “The reason for lower supply is last year’s crop damage and due to exports,” Sarkar said. He too said prices will stabilise early October when new crop starts arriving in the market.
“There is no chance of prices rising further because when the new crop comes, the demand-supply scenario will automatically match,” Sarkar said. Potato prices will not rise beyond Rs 20 a kg, he said.
“In the new season, we are looking at more area because most farmers are turning towards potato due to better returns compared with other crops,” Setia said.
Sarkar, pegged 2009-10 rabi crop in West Bengal at 8.9 million tonnes, compared with 8.0 million tonnes the state produces on an average. According to trade estimates, West Bengal produced 8.7-8.8 million tonnes in 2007-08. The rabi crop is harvested between October and February. Tarkeshwar and Agra are the key trading centres for potato.
India annually produces around 30 million tonnes of potato with nearly 70 per cent of the output coming from Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. So far, no firm output figures for the current season are available.