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You may soon have to shell out more for your favourite potato wafers or wedges. In just a fortnight, potato prices in West Bengal, the top producer, have inched up by almost Rs 60 a quintal in the wholesale market.
The price rise effect will be felt particularly in Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Bihar that buy the tuber from the eastern State.
Prices are likely to inch up by Rs 100-150 a quintal in the next one/two months because of the steady demand from other States, market sources said. The wholesale price of the Jyoti variety is ruling at Rs 560 a quintal compared with Rs 500 two weeks ago.
According to Patit Paban De, member of West Bengal Cold Storage Association, there has been a steady rise in the demand for Bengal’s potatoes. “This year, the quality of Bengal potatoes is better and prices are comparatively lower than the UP potatoes that are selling at Rs 650/quintal. So, there is a good demand for these potatoes in other States,” De told Business Line .
While nearly 40 per cent of what it produces gets exported to other States, West Bengal itself consumes 50-55 lakh tonnes a year. Potato production in the State is up by 12 per cent this year at 95-98 lakh tonnes. The 400-odd storage units in the State can hold up to 60 lakh tonnes.
Farmers usually retain up to 10 per cent of their produce after filling up in the cold storages. This year, however, farmers are left with nearly 15 per cent of the stock due to higher production, De pointed out.
“Prices usually inch up once potatoes get loaded onto the pick-up vehicles of cold storages. With the loading process in most storage units nearly done, prices are bound to move up to some extent,” said a trader in the Singur-Ratanpur area.
At farmgate, Rs 480-500 a quintal is on offer now against Rs 380-400 two weeks ago, said Sahu Sufi Mondal, a farmer of Abhirampur village in Hooghly district, nearly 90 km from Kolkata.
“Prices had come down sharply two weeks ago. However, once the government announced plans to procure potatoes, they started to move up. This brought back confidence into the market. Traders and stockists who were refusing to pick up stocks started coming forward to procure potatoes,” Mondal said.
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