UP mulls ways to offset the effects of potatoes’ record production

New Delhi: In a bid to retrieve the potato farmers of the pitiable condition in which they find themselves due to the bumper production of potatoes in Uttar Pradesh, the UP government led by Yogi Adityanath is considering some novel ways including reaching out to the Centre to call a meeting of the state agriculture ministers to procure potatoes from the state.

UP has produced a record 155-160 lakh metric tonnes of potato in 2016-17. This has pushed the potato prices to an abysmally low level of Rs 290 per quintal.

The UP government has decided to shift the potato farmers’ produce from the markets where wholesale prices have been reduced to as low as Rs 290 per quintal to other parts in the state where prices are almost double. Prices of the potatoes are usually lower in western parts of the state than in eastern parts.

Added to this, Adityanath has also asked Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh to call a meeting of agriculture ministers of different states so that they can be persuaded to procure potatoes from Uttar Pradesh.  The UP chief minister also wants potato crop from the state to get priority when it comes to procurement in the Centre’s e-National Agricultural Mart.

The state government has asked the district collectors to coordinate and impress upon the farmers to shift their produce from the low-price offering mandis to the high-price ones so that the farmers can get proper price for their crops.