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Potato prices in West Bengal have firmed up by nearly ₹5-6 a kg over the past fortnight as untimely rains caused due to the recent cyclone Jawad affected the sowing of the tuber.
The wholesale price of potato (Jyoti variety), which was ruling at around ₹11-12 a kg in end November, has firmed up to ₹16-17 a kg at present. Retail prices have touched close to ₹22-25 a kg.
It is to be noted that the prices, which had gone up during the festive season (October) due to the surge in demand and poor release from the cold storage due to the unavailability of labourers, had dropped in mid-November following a State government notification asking the farmers and the traders to release the entire stock from the cold storages by November 30.
According to Patit Paban De, former president of West Bengal Cold Storage Association, the new crop has been badly impacted due to the untimely rains and this has helped firm up the price of the store potatoes.
“We still have a reasonable quantity of stock left in the cold storage which will be good to meet the demand till the first week of January. But given the current situation, we expect prices to remain firm,” De told BusinessLine .
Close to 15 per cent of the stock is left in the cold storage at present.
Potato production in the State during the last crop season (2020-21) was higher by nearly 16 per cent at 110 lakh tonne this year, as compared to 95 lakh tonne in (2019-2020). Close to 71 lakh tonne of potatoes were kept in the cold storages this year, as against only 55 lakh tonne in 2020. There are around 400 cold storages in Bengal and the total storage capacity is estimated to be close to 70 lakh tonne.
Sowing affected
Sowing of early variety (Pokhraj) potatoes in West Bengal had been delayed due to the untimely rain. This coupled with the recent rains caused due to the cyclone is likely to weigh heavily on the new crop, farmers and traders worry.
Nearly 55-60 per cent of sowing was complete in the key growing regions of Hooghly, Midnapore, Bankura and Burdwan. The untimely rains have left the fields inundated and are likely to impact both the production and the quality of the new crop, said a farmer.
Cultivation of potatoes in Bengal is spread over close to 4.6 lakh hectares of land. Hooghly, Burdwan, Bankura, East Midnapore and West Midnapore are key growing districts.
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