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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Bumper crop mashes potato farmers’ hopes -Rutam Vora

Bumper crop mashes potato farmers’ hopes -Rutam Vora

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published Published on Apr 23, 2015   modified Modified on Apr 23, 2015
-The Hindu Business Line

Arrivals more than double at key markets as farmers resort to sell-off

Ahmedabad: Potato farmers in Gujarat are a worried lot. With harvest being bumper and unseasonal rains affecting the quality, potato prices have come down to one-third of what it was last year.

The first estimate, as on February 2015, puts the country’s potato output at around 421 lakh tonnes (lt) – about 6 lt higher than last year.

Ill-timed rain

However, unseasonal rain during March-April in growing regions damaged the crop in some parts while in most places, it affected the crop quality. “The crop became wet and unsuitable for cold storage. Hence, farmers have started bringing the crop to market. This low quality produce flooded the market and led to a price crash,” said Ganpatbhai Ladhabhai of Batata Utpadak Khedut Sangathan Samiti, an association of potato farmers in Deesa, North Gujarat.

Arrivals up

At the Agra market, potato arrivals were 3,540 tonnes with price ruling quoting in the range of 300-425 a quintal on April 21.

Last year during the same period, arrivals were almost half at 1,840 tonnes while prices ere 1,060.

Exports rise

Meanwhile, exports of potato have increased.

However, that is not helping potato farmers to get better price for their crop. National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) data showed exported increased from 1.66 lt in 2013-14 to 2.75 lt in 2014-15.

“Prices have remained low because of production glut this year. Secondly, rains in the growing regions during March-April hampered the quality of the 20 per cent. In most parts, about 80 per cent potato was already harvested and stored in cold storages,” said RP Gupta, Director, NHRDF. However, Gupta believes that estimates about potato production may be revised upwards.

Production cost

“Potato crop cost us about 70,000 an acre. We got the production of around 15-15.5 tonnes/acre. This fetched us only 45,000 an acre,” said Ladhabhai, who cultivated potato on about 8 acres of land.

But many farmers in Gujarat preferred not to lift potato from the field.

“It is useless to incur more cost on transportation of such crop which will fetch you just 3 a kg,” said Ramanbhai Mali, a potato farmer from North Gujarat.

Experts believe prices will stabilise after April and the trend will reverse.

The Hindu Business Line, 21 April, 2015, http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/agri-biz/bumper-crop-mashes-potato-farmers-hopes/article7126753.ece


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