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Potato production increased by 12 per cent to 98 lakh tonnes in West Bengal this year.
Farmers who sold early failed to book profits. And, those who stored nearly 60 lakh tonnes of potatoes, in 425 cold storages in the State, are now losing heavily.
According to Patit Paban De, a prominent member of the West Bengal Cold Storage Association (WBCSA), potato prices are now ruling at Rs 440-460 quintal, down by over 30 per cent, compared with Rs 650-700 last year. The crash in prices cost the farmer dearly.
As against the total cost of approximately Rs 500 (Rs 5 a kg) - inclusive of production cost, storage rentals and finance cost - the farmer is now releasing stock, at a net loss of approximately Rs 50 (50 paise a kg).
Some farmers are ,of course, holding the stock, in the hope of an elusive profit, resulting in a higher inventory in cold storages compared with the same period last year. But not many in the trade expect him to recover the cost, in the rest of the season.
Higher stock
“Considering the huge oversupply scenario across the country, we don’t expect prices to move up by more than Rs 10-20 a quintal at farm-end, during the rest of the season in West Bengal,” Patit Paban told Business Line.
He has a point. As the second largest potato growing State, Bengal is still holding nearly 48 per cent of the stock, up from approximately 45-46 per cent last year.
With storage capacity remaining same, the State is, therefore, holding nearly two lakh tonnes of additional stocks this year.
According to De, situation is even worse in the largest potato growing Uttar Pradesh, where cold storages are left with a bigger percentage of stocks when compared to last year.
There is no sign of any major improvement in demand.
Last year, South India, especially Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, purchased 1.5 lakh tonnes-2 lakh tonnes potatoes from West Bengal.
The State will be lucky if exports to South India are maintained at last year’s level. “Potato farmers should end up in heavy losses this year,” de said.
Market price higher
The crash in prices at farm-end has little refection on market price of potatoes in Kolkata.
Having purchased the Jyoti variety at Rs 440-460 from farmers in Hooghly, traders are selling it at Rs 640-760 - down from approximately Rs 850-900 same period last year - at the nearest whole sale market.
And, by the time it reaches the final consumers in Kolkata, potatoes are costlier by 2.3-2.7 times.
According to Amit Kumar Pal, a vendor at the civic body run ‘Jadu Babu’s Market’ in South Kolkata, Jyoti variety is selling at Rs 10 a kg (Rs 1,000 a quintal), a shade higher than last year.
In Jadavpur, potatoes are selling at Rs 12 a kg (Rs 1,200 a quintal).
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