Capt asks Markfed to buy 300 tonnes of potato for mid-day meals

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 24

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has directed Markfed to immediately procure 300 tonnes of potato for school mid-day meals, to help out the distressed potato farmers of the state.

The chief minister has asked Markfed, Asia’s largest marketing cooperative federation, to purchase potato on ‘no profit no loss’ basis to bail out potato-growers from the crisis they were facing as a result of the low prices of the commodity prevailing across the state.

The Agriculture department has already issued an advisory to the Departments of Education and Jails for optimum utilisation of potato in the mid-day meal scheme and for the consumption of jail inmates for rich nourishment besides other government institutes, which would also boost the sale of potato in the state.

A spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said Amarinder had also directed state agencies such as Markfed and Punjab Agro to formulate a comprehensive strategy to provide marketing support to potato-growers in terms of remunerative prices and other facilities.