Potato price continues to pinch pockets
Item
Title
Potato price continues to pinch pockets
Description
Kolkata: Enforcement Branch (EB) of Kolkata Police on Friday raided at least 45 markets to check onion hoarding as per the new order issued by the state. But potatoes, now a free commodity, continued to see price fluctuations. Common Jyoti variety was sold at Rs 40 a kg, while the superior variety, Chandramukhi, was sold at Rs 45 a kg. November is the lean month for potatoes. According to potato traders, given the demand-supply gap, the potato price is all set to rise further.With the depleted stock at the cold-storages and fresh potato crop being a month away, the price is going through the roof. However, the higher price encouraged farmers to increase the acreage of potato farming from 3.8 lakh hectares in 2020 to 4 lakh hectares for the next season, said Pradeep Mazumdar, the agri-advisor to the state government. The new farm laws have left potato traders euphoric. “We can now stock much higher than what we are permitted to do hitherto,” said a trader. TNN
Publisher
The Times of India
Date
2020-11-07
Coverage
Kolkata