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Potato Price
Opposition BJD and the Congress members in the Odisha Assembly on Monday expressed concern over the acute scarcity of potato and the rising price of tuber in the retail market. The issue was raised during the Zero Hour by Opposition Chief Whip Pramila Mallik, who held the state government "responsible" for the potato scarcity in the state and rising prices. "The government has completely failed to control the price rise and provide essential items like potato to the people," Mallik said. Stating that potato scarcity is felt regularly when neighbouring West Bengal stops supply, the BJD leader said that the price of a kilogramme of potato is sold at Rs 50 to Rs 60. However, the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare minister claimed that the price of potato remained at Rs 30 to Rs Rs 35. "Where did the minister get the potato at this price? Please give the address to people," she said. Mallik said the minister said that 300 trucks of potatoes were being imported from Uttar Pradesh, but t
Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Sunday took cognizance on "stopping" of potato-laden vehicles to Jharkhand on Bengal borders, allegedly restricting the supply to the state, an official statement said. The CM directed chief secretary Alka Tiwari to deal with the matter with immediate effect, it said. The West Bengal government has allegedly put restriction on interstate supply of the tuber since Thursday in a bid to maintain the stock and keep the price of potato under control in its state, according to a potato traders' association in West Bengal. On the CM's direction, Tiwari spoke to West Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant over phone for disposal of the matter, according to the official statement. "Pant has assured that a committee will be formed soon to sort out the issue of potato supply," it said. The price of potato has shot up by Rs 5 a kg in Jharkhand's retail market in the past two days after neighbouring West Bengal reportedly restricted the supply of the tuber, according
Potato traders of West Bengal threatened to go on strike on Tuesday if the state government does not lift restrictions on selling to other states. West Bengal recently re-imposed curbs on selling potatoes to neighbouring states in an effort to control the prices in the local markets. Potatoes are retailing at Rs 35-40 per kg in the local markets. Following the decision of the state government, police have intensified surveillance at inter-state borders to prevent the transportation of potatoes out of the state. This has led to several trucks being stranded at border crossings. "We will go on strike from Tuesday if the government does not lift the restrictions," Progressive Potato Traders' Association secretary Lalu Mukherjee told PTI. He criticised the government's decision, stating, "Such abrupt measures disrupt our business and cause huge losses as we fail to fulfil commitments." Traders and cold storage associations blamed the state government for failing to control prices in t
The Gujarat government on Tuesday announced a Rs 330-crore package for onion and potato cultivators for transportation and storage amid a drop in rates. State Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel told the Assembly that Gujarat is likely to produce seven lakh tonne of red onions in 2023. "Marketing yards in the Saurashtra region are likely to receive 3.50 lakh tonne produce for sale, for which the government will provide an assistance of Rs 70 crore by providing an additional Rs 2 per kg for sale through Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC). Onion farmers will get an assistance of Rs 20 crore for transportation (of the produce) to other states and abroad," he said. The government has also decided to provide financial aid of Rs 240 crore to potato growers affected by a fall in prices due to high production, the minister said. This aid will be provided in the form of storage and transportation cost for the sale of potatoes in other states and outside the country. (Of the Rs 2
The West Bengal government on Friday said it has directed potato traders to ensure that the retail price of the tuber is brought down to Rs 25 a kg from Rs 32-34 a kg prevailing now. The state government in a meeting of the potato trade bodies and cold storages had decided that a maximum of seven days will be allowed to ensure that the price of potato becomes Rs 25 a kg in the retail level. The stakeholders have agreed that farmers will get bumper price if potato is Rs 22 per kg from the cold storage gates. Potato should be at Rs 25 for the consumers taking into account transport, wholesale and retail margin, Pradip Kumar Mazumdar, the chief agri advisor to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said. Traders, however, pointed out that Rs 3 per kg spread is not enough between cold storage gates to the platter considering the high wastage in the monsoon season. Mazumdar said the government will take all measures to ensure that the price is adhered to. It may also ban export i
Potato prices have made smart recovery in the Burdwan district of West Bengal since the state government announced procurement of this king of vegetables to help farmers in distress.The benchmark Pukhraj variety of potato was trading at Rs 3 a kg in the wholesale mandi of Burdwan on Friday witnessing 200 per cent increase from its lowest quote of Re 1 a kg in the first week of March. While the jump in spot wholesale price of potato is not to the extent of 200 per cent, traders have seen sharp increase of upto 100 per cent all across the state.The recovery in potato price started after the government of West Bengal announced its procurement from farmers at Rs 4.60 a kg to prevent farmers from distress sale. According to trade sources, the government plans to address twin objectives by procuring potato from farmers. Firstly, farmers would not be discouraged for sowing potato for the next season through minimum assured price of Rs 4.60 a kg which, according to trade sources, is fairly ...
With potato prices crashing on account of bumper production, the state government's move to fix a minimum support price for potato is unlikely to bring cheer to farmers in West Bengal.At a recent farmers' meet, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee blamed demonitization, along with bumper production, for the price crash. On Tuesday, West Bengal announced a minimum support price of Rs 460 per quintal, or Rs 4.60 per kg for procurement of potato to salvage farmers from price crash. The government will procure about 28000 tonnes of potatoes over the next few months for mid-day meals in schools. However, against a production of about 11 million tonnes this year, the government's procurement would account for less than 3 per cent of total production. Last year, West Bengal produced about 9 million tonnes of potatoes.Nevertheless, potato prices recovered marginally after the government announcement. The prices went up from Rs 320-380 per quintal last week to about Rs 380-430 per ...