UP agri board bags 200 tonne potato order from Lanka

The UP State Agriculture Marketing Board has won an order for export of 200 tonnes of potatoes from seven Sri Lankan firms. The director of the board, Rajneesh Dube, said 200 tonnes of the Taj brand of potato, launched in January, would be sent to Sri Lanka in March.

Dube said the potato would be sold at $230 per tonne, which comes to Rs 25 per kg.

The board has also received encouraging response from Dubai, Malaysia and Mauritius. Dube said a leading Dubai business firm has placed orders for supply of 12.50 MT of potato as samples. If the samples qualify the local tastes and needs, there will be huge potential for UPs potato in UAE and larger West Asian market, he added.

"Our biggest market is Sri Lanka, followed by Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries in the Middle East," said Dube, adding, "Though Sri Lanka fetches low prices, it's a good market during the glut season at home".

Dube said markets in Mauritius and Seychelles had good potential and the board would concentrate on these markets during the lean season in July next. UP has annual surplus of 5 million MT of potatoes.

The board, in association with NAFED and the Agriculture Processed Food & Export Development Authority (APEDA), has drawn up plans for the export of 2,000 MT of potatoes from the current harvesting season. The board has also obtained the patent for this from the registrar of trade marks and patents, New Delhi.