West Bengal: Decision to restrict potato movement may hike prices in coming months

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision to stop movement of potatoes from the state in order to ensure adequate supply at home has set the stage for costlier new crop in the coming months.

Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand, which used to depend on West Bengal for potato supply, are trying to step up their local production in the current Rabi season. But with these states buying more seeds from Punjab, the cost of seeds has shot up and this in turn is expected to push up potato prices.

"We are now being forced to buy potato seeds at Rs 2,000-2,200 per 50 kg bag, compared to Rs 1,500 last year," said Dilip Pratihar, member of West Bengal Progressive Potato Traders’ Association.

Slamming Mamata’s move, Pratihar said it will prove counter-productive as prices will rise for consumers in West Bengal as well even as the state is the second largest producer of the tuber after UP.

Potato seed growers from Jalandhar confirmed that demand for seeds has risen from the eastern states. "The demand for seeds has gone up 20% from these states compared to last year," said Amarjit Singh, a Jalandhar-based potato farmer.

Traders say the new crop that will enter the market from cold storages in the beginning of next year will become costlier for West Bengal and the entire eastern India that gets supply from the state.

Sowing of Pokhraj variety, which accounts for 10% of West Bengal’s annual production of about 95 lakh tonne, has begun in the state. According to early estimates, production may go up 5% in the state this Rabi season. "Farmers in Bengal are keen to increase the potato acreage as they got good prices last year.

They got Rs 700-800 for a quintal, compared to Rs 400-500 a year ago. But the seed price is too high this year and if farmers have to buy seeds at a high price they will have to get remuneration for their produce," said Gopal Mondol, a leading potato trader, adding that prices will rise from the first quarter of next year when potatoes from cold storages start arriving.

Retail prices of potato, which are hovering around Rs 30-35 per kg, may come down a little in the next 15 days when the early variety enters the market, said SN Ashraf, president of Cold Storage Association. "But that is only a small portion of the total production," he said, adding, "In Bihar, farmers are trying to increase production but Punjab seed prices are too high.

West Bengal is not allowing potatoes to enter state. So prices will remain firm in the coming months." The Centre, on its part, has directed the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) to import potatoes to meet the domestic demand and contain prices till the new crop arrives.