No respite from spiralling potato prices till Feb 2015
19 Nov 2014 5:41 AM IST
There is going to be no reprieve from the sky-rocketing price of potatoes in near future. According to enquiries made at the wholesale markets and from the farmers in and around the national capital region, the prices would keep moving northwards till February next year.
The traders claim farmers’ apathy, heavy rain and hoarding by the suppliers at every level of supply chain as the major factors for drop in supply from supplier states. Notably, the rate in retail markets has touched Rs. 45 per kg.
The traders at Azadpur Agriculture Produce Market said that the price is going up as supply at various mandis has reduced by 30 to 40 per cent and the situation is not going to improve in near future. They claim that a limited quantity of potato, which is considered as essential vegetable, from Himachal Pradesh and Hoshiarpur region of Punjab was coming to Azadpur, Keshopur, Ghazipur and Okhla mandis of the national capital. Supply from Uttarakhand, Western as well as Central UP, Haryana, most parts of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh was almost zero.
‘As the major suppliers from various states have stopped sending potato, price in wholesale is varying from Rs. 20 to Rs. 26. We have, somehow, maintained the market with the help of stored potato of UP but once the stock will be over, price will jump suddenly. Situation may change after four months when fresh stock from UP will strike the market,’ said Mohandas Bhojwani, president of potato traders’ association of Azadpur mandi.
The traders rued that first delay in mansoon and unprecedented rain later destroyed the potato farming. ‘Flood wasted potato farming in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh while heavy rains in later half of monsoon season destroyed crops of Haryana, Punjab and West UP. Due to the heavy rain, a thick layer of fresh soil surfaced at farms that stopped saplings to surface from seeds. ‘Those who had sowed the seed and those who were waiting for the rain are badly affected,’ said another trader Rakesh Kumar.
Apart from this, the ‘hostile’ approach from farmers of Central and West UP including Kanpur Dehat, Firozabad, Etawah, Farukhabad, Mainpuri, Sultanpur, Aligarh, Hathras and other parts has also added to the woes as nearly 40 per cent of the farmers have concentrated on wheat and rice crops instead of potato this year. ‘Last year traders forced farmers to sell potatoes at mandis instead of taking from the fields. This caused huge loss to the farmers. In retaliation, this year they have diverted towards other crops. This will result in 10 per cent decrease in national capital,’ said Dushyant Nagar, a farmers’ rights activist.
The traders claim farmers’ apathy, heavy rain and hoarding by the suppliers at every level of supply chain as the major factors for drop in supply from supplier states. Notably, the rate in retail markets has touched Rs. 45 per kg.
The traders at Azadpur Agriculture Produce Market said that the price is going up as supply at various mandis has reduced by 30 to 40 per cent and the situation is not going to improve in near future. They claim that a limited quantity of potato, which is considered as essential vegetable, from Himachal Pradesh and Hoshiarpur region of Punjab was coming to Azadpur, Keshopur, Ghazipur and Okhla mandis of the national capital. Supply from Uttarakhand, Western as well as Central UP, Haryana, most parts of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh was almost zero.
‘As the major suppliers from various states have stopped sending potato, price in wholesale is varying from Rs. 20 to Rs. 26. We have, somehow, maintained the market with the help of stored potato of UP but once the stock will be over, price will jump suddenly. Situation may change after four months when fresh stock from UP will strike the market,’ said Mohandas Bhojwani, president of potato traders’ association of Azadpur mandi.
The traders rued that first delay in mansoon and unprecedented rain later destroyed the potato farming. ‘Flood wasted potato farming in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh while heavy rains in later half of monsoon season destroyed crops of Haryana, Punjab and West UP. Due to the heavy rain, a thick layer of fresh soil surfaced at farms that stopped saplings to surface from seeds. ‘Those who had sowed the seed and those who were waiting for the rain are badly affected,’ said another trader Rakesh Kumar.
Apart from this, the ‘hostile’ approach from farmers of Central and West UP including Kanpur Dehat, Firozabad, Etawah, Farukhabad, Mainpuri, Sultanpur, Aligarh, Hathras and other parts has also added to the woes as nearly 40 per cent of the farmers have concentrated on wheat and rice crops instead of potato this year. ‘Last year traders forced farmers to sell potatoes at mandis instead of taking from the fields. This caused huge loss to the farmers. In retaliation, this year they have diverted towards other crops. This will result in 10 per cent decrease in national capital,’ said Dushyant Nagar, a farmers’ rights activist.
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