India: Rains continue to pound potato crop

Potato cultivation is taken up on a large-scale in Hosakote, Devanahalli, Kolar, Srinivasapura, Chikkaballapura and surrounding areas.“Every day we get fifty trucks of potatoes from these places. However, as of now we are depending on potatoes from Agra and Indore as the farmers of Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts are yet to harvest the crop. The extent of crop damage and the losses incurred by the growers are yet to be ascertained,” said Shankrappa, a trader and member of APMC Yard Merchant Association. One truck has about ten tonnes of potato with 50 kg per sack. The City gets around 25,000 sacks of potato every day.’No hike in price’However, representatives of the APMC merchants association said that the loss of crops is unlikely to reflect on the price in the market.“The farmers are suffering huge losses. But it will not affect the price of potato here. This is because we also have supply of the vegetable from other places,” Shankrappa added.Source: deccanherald.com