The year 2016-17 saw excess production and a resultant price crash driving potato farmers into a tight spot. Unable to repay their loans, they not only lost out on the interest subsidy but also got trapped in the hands of moneylenders.

Cut to 2017-18: potato farmers are a worried lot. The paddy crop standing in their fields has not been harvested, yet, delaying potato sowing in a majority of the districts. Sowing of the tuber usually begins by end-October and goes on till early December. According to farmers, the delay in paddy harvesting could push the commencement of sowing process to end November or early December.

“If the sowing gets delayed then the crop quality might suffer due to unavailability of required climatic conditions,” Md Rafick Mallick, a farmer from Shaktigarh village in Burdwan district of West Bengal told BusinessLine.

Mounting losses

West Bengal reported a 22 per cent jump in potato production at 110 lakh tonnes (lt) in 2016-17, leading to a price crash. Farmers like Mallick, who had taken a bank loan for sowing the crop, were at a loss. Prices, at the time of harvesting, were ruling as low as ₹110-120 for a packet (of 50 kg) or around ₹2.4 a kg. According to Sahu Sufi Mondal, a farmer of Burdwan, close to 80 packets can grow on a bigha (0.401 acre) of land.

“I have around 12 bighas (4.8 acres) and I spent close to ₹20,000 for cultivating one bigha of land. I got only ₹10,000-11,000 a bigha on the potato crop last year,” Mondal rued. The distress arising out of heavy losses also allegedly led to a couple of farmers committing suicide early this year. The State government announced that it would purchase 28,000 tonnes of potatoes required for anganwadi centres and mid-day meal programme, directly from farmers.

“We are not sure if the government went ahead with the procurement of potatoes. The prices remained subdued throughout the season with only a marginal improvement during the festivals,” a cold storage owner said.

The farmers, who invariably do not have the wherewithal to hold on to their produce by renting space in a cold storage, went in for distress selling. The traders, who could hold on to their stock, made some money with the demand picking up during the festival season.

Poor repayment

The repayment rate in the potato producing areas of Burdwan and Hooghly is down by almost 20-30 per cent, said Srikanto Karfa, Manager of Gopalpur Samabaya Krishi Unnayan Samity. The samity facilitates loans to farmers through its tie-up with cooperative banks.

“Many farmers were unable to repay their loan hence lost out on their interest subsidy,” he said.

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