Potato farmers told to clear their stocks from cold storage

Raiganj: Potato farmers in Raiganj of North Dinajpur district are in dire straits with cold storage owners having asked them to clear away their potato stocks with expiry of agreement on November 30. The farmers have requested government intervention to help tide over this crisis.

This year there was a very good yield of potatoes in the district and the farmers had to store their potatoes in cold storages owing to this. With surplus supply, prices remained very low for a long period. If the farmers remove their stock from cold storages, they will have no market to sell their crops and will not get the price. They will incur huge losses which is why they want the intervention of the government.

Abdul Rejjak, a potato farmer said: “The cold storage owners told us to remove our stocks as our agreement expires on November 30. We have to dump potatoes on the road as the price is reducing by the day. In addition, potatoes will also rot in two or three days. Under these circumstances, we request the government to intervene and allow our stocks to remain in the cold storages for some time.”

Dilip Saha, owner of Prasad Cold Storage at Panishala in Raiganj said: “Our agreement with farmers according to the instruction of the government ended on November 30 but still, more than 20 per cent stock remains in our cold storage. The farmers have been told to take away their stocks as we have to prepare our cold storages for the next session. If we allow the farmers one more month, we will incur a

large expenditure.

We want the state Agriculture department to hold a meeting and work out an amicable solution.”

Sandipan Roy of the district agriculture and marketing office abstained from commenting on this issue.