Potato prices in India, which have shot up 60 percent since October, may drop off somewhat in the next ten days as arrivals from Uttar Pradesh, the largest producer of the tuber in the country, are expected to increase substantially.
Unseasonal rains since October in the potato growing areas of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal had damaged the crop and slowed down harvesting, resulting in a price hike. Wholesale prices, which are hovering around Rs 20 per kg, are likely to come down to Rs 15 per kg in the next 10 days, said traders. Along with onion prices, which have raced to Rs 200 per kg in certain parts of the country, potato prices too are pinching consumers.
“Unseasonal rains in October had damaged the crop and also slowed down sowing of the new crop,” Arvind Agarwal, secretary, Cold Storage Association of Uttar Pradesh, told. “This had resulted in prices moving up.
Things were getting normalised since the beginning of this month. But again in the last three to four days there has been a downpour which has affected harvesting. However, we are hopeful that things will improve over this week and arrivals will increase.”
The state has produced 15.5 million tonnes of potatoes since the beginning of 2019. Of this, 11.5 million tonnes were loaded in cold storages and the rest sold directly by farmers at the farm-gate level. “The sowing of new crop is under way. But it has been delayed due to rains. A clearer picture on the crop size will emerge once the sowing is complete,” said Agarwal.
