Potato price dips further, Haryana farmers stare at losses

Parveen Arora

Karnal, March 4

With the potato price dropping further to Rs 250-350 per quintal from Rs 400 per quintal last month, farmers are struggling to recover even the production cost.

Farmers fear that the price may drop further as there are no buyers due to a fall in demand from different states. They say due to the low price, they are unable to recover the input cost, even after struggling for around four months.

“I have cultivated the potato crop on 15 acres of land. Of this, I have harvested the crop on two acres and it was procured at Rs 250 per quintal. I earned only Rs 25,000 per acre, while the production cost was around Rs 55,000 per acre,” said Tajinder Singh, a farmer of Singhra village.

“I got my crop registered on the ‘Meri Fasal, Mera Byora’ portal under the Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana (BBY), which gives a base price of Rs 6 per kg to potato farmers. Now, I have to apply with the department to get the difference between the base price and the procurement rate.”

As potatoes have a limited lifespan, the farmers are storing the produce at their homes, hoping for price rise. Sukhjinder Singh, another farmer, has also kept the produce of 15 acres at his home. “Farmers are getting a low price for their potato crop, due to which I have stored the produce at my home. I will wait for a rise in price.”

District Horticulture Officer Madan Lal said as many as 627 farmers got their potato crop on 2,638 acres registered under the BBY. “Farmers have to get their Form J uploaded at the market committee office concerned. The HSAMB will then pay the gap between the base price and the procurement rate to them.”