Madhusudhan Acharya, agricultural technician at the Agriculture Service Office, Daman, said harvests on irrigated land were down 12 percent while non-irrigated land saw a steep drop of 40 percent.
Potato farmers had been expecting to rebuild their homes destroyed by the earthquake last year with money from their potato crops and government grants. But a drop in production has put their plans in doubt.
They feel that the relief amount of Rs200,000 promised by the government is not enough to rebuild their houses. In the absence of a cold store, farmers have to sell their potatoes right after they are harvested which has prevented them from getting good prices.
The price of white potato is Rs25-30 per kg in Thaha Municipality while white potato costs Rs20-25 per kg. “Though there is not much change in the price of potato, output has fallen behind last year’s figure,” said potato retailer Ram Krishna Basnet.
(1 Indian Rupee=0.015USD)
