Suman Karati, Hooghly: Potato prices have been on the rise for the past few days. A few days ago the potato was 20 taka per kg, now the same potato is selling at 25 to 26 taka per kg. Traders think that the price of potatoes will touch 30 rupees in a few days. But why?
Hooghly district leads in potato production in the state. This time too, potatoes were cultivated on 88 thousand hectares of land. Cultivation was killed due to untimely rains. Production also decreased. Last time, where 30 lakh metric tons were produced, this time it was only 27 lakh metric tons. It has been reported that the production of potato in Bengal has decreased by about three lakh metric tons this year.
[আরও পড়ুন: কমবে না দহনজ্বালা, দ্বিতীয় দফার ভোটেও তাপপ্রবাহ রাজ্যে, সতর্কতা জারি কমিশনের]
State Progressive Potato Traders Secretary Lalu Mukhopadhyay said, “80 to 85 lakh metric tons of potatoes are produced in the state. Out of that, 63 lakh metric tons of potatoes have been stored in cold storage. Farmers got a good price after picking potatoes. Farmers sell them at an average of 15 rupees per kilo. The price of potatoes stands at 23 to 24 taka per kilo due to cost of cold storage, sorting, cut pieces, sack price, car hire and 7 and a half taka per kilo. He further said, “So far, the potatoes stored in the farmer’s house or in the open market were being sold at the price of Tk 20 per kilo. After the opening of the cold store, the price of those potatoes has increased by a leap.”
Potatoes from foreign states, especially Uttar Pradesh, Punjab are imported into this state every time. So the supply becomes more than the demand. Prices are low. Potato production in other states is also low. Now, if Bengal potatoes go to foreign countries, then the traders cannot say where the price will go. However, the traders think that the price of potato is going to touch 30 rupees within a few days. Retail potato sellers say that if the price of potatoes increases, the sales will decrease. As a result they suffer. According to the farmers, the boils are profitable. But the farmer does not get the price.
