Low production of potato in UP and Bengal has improved profits for Gujarat

Potato farmers have had a windfall because of low production of potatoes in other states like UP and West Bengal. The potato farmers in Gujarat are getting better prices for their produce. As compared to the price of Rs5-6 per kg in 2015, local farmers are currently fetching Rs10 per kg in the wholesale markets basically due to lower production in other states.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 10 April 2016.

There has been a decline in production of the two top potato growing states namely, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The shortfall is of the order of 5% and 15% attributable to unfavorable weather conditions. Of course, the yield in Gujarat, too, has dipped by 10% this year, but, unlike other major states, Gujarat has managed to registered an increase in production on account of higher acreage. The potato output has, in fact, galloped substantially over the last two years.
At present, the production in an area of one lakh hectare was around 35 lakh tonnes as against 31 lakh tonnes of 2015 and 23 lakh tonnes in 2014.
Moreover, the cold storage capacity in Gujarat saw addition of approximately 6.25 lakh tonnes (1.25 crore bags of 50 kg each) and, therefore, farmers in Gujarat are able to reap the benefits. The wholesale prices had plummeted to Rs 5-6 per kg in Gujarat last year due to glut in the market but the prices have remained at Rs 10-13 per kg in 2016 which is a big relief.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Potato farmers’ suicides in Bengal not due to debts, but there has been a bumper crop and there is shortage of storage

#potatofarmers #farmerssuicide #trinamoolcongress It is strange how a minister of West Bengal talks and tries to suppress the true picture. Agricultural Minister Purnendu Basu has informed reporters on the sidelines of an event organized by the MCC Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata that suicide of potato farmers have no link to potatoes.
This has been reported in business-standard.com dated 19 March 2015.

He has agreed that there has been a bumper crop this year and, as a result, the farmers have allegedly not been getting proper remunerative prices. Reports indicate that this situation has led to a number of debt-stressed farmers to take their lives.
In the opinion of the minister of Trinamool Congress, the deaths were due to family issues and not due to debts.
He went on to say that those who the measures taken by the state government will not solve the problem immediately because it takes time to translate into an action...the government had taken steps as soon as it realized the problem.
One has to presume that such a state of affairs has happened all of a sudden and taken the administration by surprise.
As per statistics of the state agricultural department, the production of potatoes in the state has been to the tune of 1.20 crore tonne against the demand of 74 lakh tonne while West Bengal's cold storage chain can store only 65 lakh tonne. Obviously, a peculiar situation.
It is beyond comprehension why the farmers were not advised in advance that over production would lead to problems and they should have gone in for alternate crops. The agricultural minister should have had his ears to the ground and provided necessary guidance to the farmers.

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