Predicting a bumper potato harvest this season, the West Bengal Cabinet has decided to allow cold storage owners to purchase at least 1 million tons of tuber from growers at a fixed price, so that they do not have to suffer losses. The state government will also help the cold storage authorities in case they require bank loans for making the purchase at ₹6 per kilogram, Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay stated earlier this week. However, this mechanism is for Jyoti variety of potato only.
It has been so in the past that if the yield is abundant, some potato farmers will leave their produce in the agricultural field, because they know that even the transportation costs are difficult to redeem. "We are expecting a bumper production of potato this season. So, lakhs of potato farmers in Hooghly, Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Medinipur, Bankura, Coochebehar, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Howrah and Uttar Dinajpur districts may not be able to get the proper price.
According to livemint.com¸ a total of ₹30 billion (€330 mln) has been allotted for the project.
Photo source: Dreamstime.com
