Bumper potato crop has Doaba farmer elated

Strap: Fetches them price of Rs7.5 to Rs8 per kg in market

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Production goes up

There is an increase of almost 1.5 lakh metric tonne of potato production this year. While the last year’s production in Punjab was 28 lakh metric tonne, this time it has touched 29.5 lakh metric tonne. There has been a 2 per cent increase in the area under cultivation this year, with the total being 1.07 lakh hectare”,

Paramjit Singh, horticulture development officer

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Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 10

In a big relief to Doaba farmers, favourable weather conditions and lesser rain have led to a bumper potato crop this year, fetching them a price of Rs 7.5 to Rs 8 per kg in the market.

Harvesting is over and farmers are now engaged in packaging. While some crop has gone to the states of Karnataka and West Bengal, the remaining is being used in Punjab itself.

For the time being, farmers intend to sell out only 10-15 per cent of the crop in the market. The remaining will be kept in cold stores and is likely to be taken out in September when it will fetch them even a better price.

Horticulture Development Officer Paramjit Singh said there was an increase of 1.5 lakh metric tonne of production this year. “While the last year’s production of potato in Punjab was 28 lakh metric tonne, this time it has touched 29.5 lakh metric tonne. There has been a 2 per cent increase in the area under potato cultivation this year, with the total being 1.07 lakh hectare”, he said.

Phillaur-based potato farmer Jagat Gill Thamanwal said, “Owing to favourable weather conditions and no disease outbreak, my production per hectare went up 10 per cent. I cultivate potato on 100 acres of land and my crop has gone to the markets of Gujarat, UP and West Bengal.”

A member of the Jalandhar Potato Growers’ Association, who uses aeroponics technique of growing potatoes, he added, “Though we got a reasonable price this time, I feel that even the cost of production has gone up. The input cost has increased 2.5 times since 2010 and four times since 2000, but the prices have not been that remunerative, though overall, it was a good season for us.”

Harjinder Singh, a farmer from Kapurthala, said, “I had grown pukhraj potato on 95 acres. I got a production of 150 quintal per acre this time, which is quite good. I am also happy with the price of Rs 7.5 to Rs 8 per kg that my crop is fetching in mandis.”