SME Times News Bureau | 11 Jan, 2018
Even as a new
harvesting season has begun, Punjab's farmers are staring at bleak prospects
with potato prices, that had hit rock-bottom last year, not showing signs of
returning to previous levels.
About 10 per cent of the current season's total harvest has been sold and the
prices have stuck somewhere between Rs 150 and Rs 300 per quintal, according to
the Punjab Horticulture Department. Farmers are apprehensive about the
remuneration this year too, though the production is expected to be higher
owing to favourable climatic conditions. About 80 per cent of the harvest in
Punjab comes during the peak season of February and March.
Potato prices had slumped to just Rs 10 for a bag of 100 kg (one quintal) last
year, leaving farmers in tears -- and most of them chose to throw their produce
on the roads to rot.
According to the Punjab government, production this year is expected to be over
2.5 million tonnes.
"If the weather is congenial and potato plants are not infected by the
blight, overall yield will be good. Currently the rates are not good, I
heard," Gulab Singh Gill, Deputy Director (Horticulture) told IANS.
What concerns the farmers more is uncertainty over remunerative prices for
their harvest when it hits the market during the peak season, said Gurinder
Singh Kang, a potato grower from Jalandhar's Lallian Kalan village.
"There is neither much fog nor initiation of blight disease. The climate
is quite favorable for optimum output. However, there is an apprehension among
farmers and traders whether they will get a fair price as current rates are at
below Rs 3 for a kg," Kang said.
Despite the fall in prices last year, land under potato cultivation has
increased this year as farmers used a certain amount of the unsold crop for
sowing.
"It is not just the decline in consumption or rise in production that led
to the price drop, but several policy-related reasons such as demonetisation,
high tax rate for cold storage, lack of export facilities are also
responsible," an official of the Jalandhar Potato Growers Association
(JPCA) said.
"It is like multi-organ failure. After demonetisation, traders have become
hesitant to procure any agricultural produce in excess. Earlier, we had to pay
14 per cent tax for cold storage but post-GST it has become 28 per cent,"
said JPGA Secretary Jagat Gill Thamanwal.
"Also, there are no facilities for exports. Punjab is land-locked and
exports to Pakistan are banned via the Wagah border. As the sea route is not
cost-effective, our superior potato crop fails in the competition,"
Thamanwal added.
Thus, farmers had thrown about 80 per cent of their crop on the roads due to
the drastic fall in prices last year.
It is not just the potato growers who have been hurt but the vibrant seed industry
has also been significantly impacted, claimed JPCA President Gururaj Nijjar.
"We fulfill almost 33 per cent of the country's demand and we provide good
quality seeds to other states. However, the seeds we produced were not sold
this year. We could not even store them in cold storage as the seed's life is
just two months," Nijjar said.
Potato seeds grown in the Doaba region -- the land between the Sutlej and Ravi
rivers -- are in huge demand across the country for being disease-free and of
superior quality.
Nijjar produced 15,000 bags (each 50 kg) of potato seeds in 2016-17 and Gill
produced 35,000 bags.
Farmers in the region have sought government assistance, including a minimum
support price (MSP), to bring them out of the financial distress.
Including potatoes in the MSP scheme is, however, not possible as it is a cash
crop and prices will be decided by the markets, asserted a senior government
official, who requested anonymity.