India: Low rates, lack of storage leave Moga potato growers in a spot

A senior officer of the Horticulture Department said potato was grown on 6,825 hectares of land in Moga district with an expected production of 1,58,640 tonnes.

There are 35 cold stores in the district with an average storing capacity of 70,000 bags of 50 kg each. The total production in terms of the number of bags has been estimated at 82 lakh while the total storage capacity is about 25 lakh bags.

Over 20 lakh bags of potatoes have already been sold by farmers but there are reports that traders had also booked space in the cold stores to store their purchase.

Many cold store owners have conveyed to farmers that they do not have space. The glut would further aggravate problems for farmers.The prices are likely to go down further. Most of the farmers said they wanted to store the potatoes on their own as many states like Odissa, West Bengal had witnessed very less production of potatoes this season as compared to the last year. Meanwhile, on the condition of anonymity a farmer of Raoke Kalan village told The Tribune that a local trader had stored the potatoes purchased from him on his name to evade the market fee of four per cent. Besides, owners of cold stores had also started demanding extra money for storage, said farmers.

Gurwinder Singh Guggu, sarpanch of Daata village, alleged, “Traders, cold store owners and local officials of the mandi board are hand in glove. They are minting money by evading the market fee and duping the farming community under the patronage of a senior Akali leader of the area.”

Jaswinder Singh Brar, Agriculture Officer of Moga, said the Agriculture Department has called for the record pertaining to the capacity of cold stores and constituted teams to look into the plight of farmers. “We will try our best to persuade cold store owners to give the first priority to potato growers,” he said.

Cold store owners demanding extra money: Farmers

Farmers have alleged that traders were storing potatoes purchased from them on their name to evade the market fee.

The state mandi board charges four per cent market fee from traders for the purchase of potatoes from farmers.

Besides, owners of cold storages had also started demanding extra money for storage, farmers alleged.