Chips down for UP potato growers as margins become wafer thin

Yogi constitutes committee over potato farmers' distress

The potato farmers in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s top potato producer, are facing the problem of plenty with bumper production over the past successive years resulting in market glut, thus depressing retail prices and squeezing margins.

The low returns had prompted the potato farmers to dump trolleys of unsold stock near the UP Vidhan Sabha and some other VIP localities recently to register protest and seek the attention of chief minster Yogi Adityanath to their distress.

Last year (2016-17), UP potato output had stood at over 15 million tonnes (MT), which is further estimated to rise to about 16 MT during 2017-18.