UP's lower than market price hits potato farmers

Potato growers of Uttar Pradesh, reeling under a bumper crop this year, have more disappointment in store. The state government recently fixed the purchase price for potato, which is much lower than the prevailing market rates.

Besides, government agencies deployed to purchase the potato have started grading of the commodity.

The state government has set a price of Rs 2.50 a kg for grade-I potato. However, prices in the wholesale market are hovering around Rs 3 a kg and without any grading. The low rates have kept farmers away from government procurement centres.

The UP government has released Rs 10 lakh for the procurement and has set a target of April 30 for both the agencies to complete the purchase.

"Under given circumstances, the state government has not done anything to benefit us by opening its own purchase centres," said a farmer at Naveen Mandi Parishad in Lucknow.

The state government has asked the horticulture department to purchase 3,000 tonnes, while the remaining 8,000 tonnes will be purchased by the Pradeshik Cooperative Federation (PCF).

However, with farmers not taking any interest in selling at government counters, it would be difficult for the government to meet the target.

Meanwhile, potato growers of UP are also suffering under a lack of cold storage facilities. Farmers in the state's potato belt from Kanpur to Agra have been left in the lurch with no room to store their produce.

The Agra region of UP alone produces more than 30 per cent of the country's total potato. According to agricultural experts, farmers spend about Rs 5,500 for cultivating one bigha of potato, but at Thursday's rate, the return from one bigha would not even fetch Rs 4,000.

Potato growers in Uttar Pradesh are paying dearly for the traditional rivalry between the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party and the opposition Samajwadi Party.

The Kanpur-Agra belt is an impregnable fort of the Samajwadi Party and hence the current government is turning a blind eye to the concerns of potato growers.

This year, Uttar Pradesh registered a record production of close to 130 lakh tonnes of potato compared with the usual output of 100 lakh tonnes. There are about 1,300 cold storage facilities with a capacity to store about 90 lakh tonnes.