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After witnessing record low prices for the new crop in the beginning of harvest season this year, a majority of potato farmers in West Bengal now have a reason to cheer.
Wholesale prices of the new crop (Jyoti variety), which were ruling at around Rs 200-250 a quintal in end December and early January, have now jumped to Rs 700-720 a quintal.
The rise in prices is mainly on account of a dip in production of the tuber across the country this year, said Mr Patit Paban De, member, West Bengal Cold Storage Association. Production is likely to drop by 15 per cent to about 80 lakh tonnes this year, against a bumper production of 95 lakh tonnes last year.
FALLING AREA
“The area under cultivation has gone down this year as a number of farmers did not sow potato seeds because of the heavy losses last year. The area under cultivation has come down to 3.75 lakh hectare (4 lakh hectare) this year,” Mr De told Business Line.
There has also been a 20 per cent dip in production in UP, the country's largest potato producing State. According to Mr Mahendra Swarup, President, Federation of Cold Storage Association, the drop in production in UP was primarily due to lesser availability of fertilisers and late blight attack on crops.
Harvesting usually begins around the third week of December and goes on till March end. Early harvesting, which takes place in the districts of Bankura and Midnapore in mid December or early January, accounts for only about 5 per cent of the total production, Mr De said.
The low price of the new crop towards the end of last year and early this year was mainly on account of a carryover stock of last year and the arrival of potatoes from Punjab, he pointed out.
Close to 6 per cent of the 58 lakh tonnes of potatoes stored across the 403 odd cold storages in the State remained unutilised till the end of last year.
However, not too many farmers were seen selling their produce at those low levels, he said and added, “A majority of the farmers were yet to harvest their crop and even those who did were holding on to their stock. So now they stand benefited with this price rise.”
Prices have gradually inched up from Rs 220 a quintal in late December to Rs 570 a quintal in late January and early February to Rs 700 a quintal at present.
Some farmers who sold their produce in January or early February now regret their decision. “I cultivated Jyoti crop on 7 bighas (2.31 acre) of land this year and produced about 245 quintal of potatoes. I sold my entire produce at Rs 560 a quintal in the first week of March,” said Mr Sahu Mondal, a potato farmer in Abhirampur village in Hooghly.
However, Mr Mondal does not regret his decision. “Last year, we had hold on to our stock in anticipation of getting better prices but it nosedived. I did not want to take a similar risk this year.” With the average cost of production close to Rs 500 a quintal, Mr Mondal still reaped a profit of Rs 60 a quintal.
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