Punjab potato growers, who dumped their produce on the road in December in protest against low rates, expect a sharp fall in output of the tuber due to unfavourable weather last month.

“Rain in the month of January has dealt a severe blow to potato growers in Punjab and it is going to have a damaging effect on overall production of crop in Punjab. We think the crop loss may be between 20-30 per cent,” Confederation of Potato Seed Farmers President Mr Sukhjit Singh Bhatti told PTI on Wednesday.

Potato growers said the rain mainly damaged potato varieties like Pukhraj and Jyoti in the crop-growing belt of Jalandhar and Kapurthala, which are known for growing seed potato.

“The maximum impact of rain was visible in the areas of Adampur, Bhogpur, Kartarpur, Kapurthala and Shakot,” said another potato grower.

Jalandhar Potato Growers Association President Mr Jaswinder Singh Sangha demanded that the State Government carry out a loss assessment in affected areas for awarding suitable compensation.

With untimely rains damaging crop, harvesting of the tuber has been delayed by 10 days. “Crop harvesting normally starts around January 24-25, but because of rain, farmers have now delayed the harvesting by 10 days,” said Mr Bhatti.

Punjab grows potatoes over an area of over 80,000 hectares, with annual output of 21 lakh tonnes, and it is a major grower of seed potatoes, which are supplied to other states.

Having already faced heavy losses due to low prices of potatoes, Punjab farmers say the drop in production will further compound their woes.

“Earlier, we had to throw our crop on the road because of low rates and now, lower yield will turn out to be another big blow for growers,” Mr Sangha said, adding that the crop loss could be between 30-40 per cent.

Punjab farmers threw potato crops in large quantities on roads in December last year, after market rates fell due to oversupply.

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