This story is from November 21, 2017

Punjab potato rates plunge, edgy growers plan to dump tubers

Punjab potato rates plunge, edgy growers plan to dump tubers
Representative image
CHANDIGARH: After nearly a year of rock-bottom potato prices, farmers in Punjab plan to begin dumping their produce, much of which has been stocked since April. Given the glut, many farmers have already abandoned their potato stocks in cold storages as there are no signs of price recovery.
Farmers say ideally a 50kg sack of potatoes should be priced Rs 380, but they are getting only Rs 50 for it in the wholesale markets.
"There are trollies full of potatoes as villagers are offering to sell potatoes at as low as Rs 2 per kg. After the state government failed to provide any relief, farmers had dumped potatoes in Mohali last month. With no solution in sight, many farmers plan to dump potatoes in the rivers in the coming weeks," said Harinder Singh, general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal).
Jang Bahadur Singh Sangha, secretary general of Confederation of Potato Seed Farmers (POSCON), suggested the Centre should have intervened after the crisis began after demonetisation. "The solution lies in concrete steps such as setting up Potato Board, involving think tanks for long-term policies and getting rid of randomness in policy so that initiatives to export potatoes can work. The international community is expecting from us, but archaic steps like fixing minimum export price hold the farmers back."
The bad run for potato farmers started last year as 70% of the crop was pushed into cold storages and potato seed buyers from West Bengal did not turn up. Desperate farmers have been forced to sell their produce at throwaway prices to dairy owners.
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About the Author
Vibhor Mohan

Vibhor Mohan is Special Correspondent with The Times of India’s Punjab Bureau at Chandigarh. He holds post-graduate degrees in Mass Communication and English and has nearly 15 years of experience, having covered important stations in Punjab. He covers news concerning Punjab politics, NRI affairs and the power sector, besides specializing in writing on architecture, especially on the works of Le Corbusier, the man who gave India its first designed city – Chandigarh.

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