KOLKATA: State Agricultural marketing Minister Becharam Manna in the state Assembly on Tuesday said that the state government has extended the time period for storing potatoes in the cold storages till December 31.
The minister presented statistics before the house and said that 59,53,886 metric tonne of potatoes were stored in cold storages out of which 44,48,386 metric tonne of potatoes have been taken out. Currently, around 15,05,499 metric tonne of potatoes are stored in various cold storages. A notification was issued on November 18 extending the time period for storing potatoes.
In response to the question raised by MLA Madhusudan Bhattacharjee whether the use of potatoes in midday meals for children in schools can be increased, the minister said that the matter falls under the jurisdiction of the school Education department.
It was learnt that a good quantity of potatoes was stored in the cold storages of Bengal in this current marketing year and therefore the department has decided to extend the storage period. More than 15 lakh tonne of potatoes are still lying with the storages.
It may be mentioned here that Cold storage facilities have been increased in North Bengal in order to store vegetables, especially potatoes. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee earlier had given directives to increase cold storage facilities in areas covering all the districts of North Bengal.
There had been a lack of cold storage facilities in North Bengal districts to keep vegetables, particularly potatoes. Potato production in North Bengal, for this year, is huge in comparison to the districts of South Bengal.
Due to the lack of cold storage facilities in North Bengal the farmers had to face trouble to store potatoes earlier. The potato farmers also faced losses due to its heavy production in the entire North Bengal.
State government has now set a target to establish more cold storages in North Bengal so that more potatoes can be stored and supply of the same to South Bengal districts through proper transportation from the north.