Agra farmers irked at rise in cold storage rents

The potato farmers of Agra are angry with cold storage owners, who, they say, are harassing them by increasing storage rates by up to Rs 30 a quintal.

Farmers of villages around Agra held a meeting to discuss the situation. According to the Aloo Utpadak Kisan Samiti General Secretary Pushpendra Jain, the farmers are losing between Rs 17,000 and Rs 19,000 per hectare even after having selling their entire produce.

Even the state government had accepted the loss figures of Rs 16,710 per hectare, which was an unbearable loss to small and big farmers alike.

The potato arriving in the market from states like Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh will cause a steeper drop in potato prices throughout the state and without the government aid, it will be impossible for the farmers to come out of the debt.

To further aggravate the situation, he said, the cold storage owners have decided to raise their storage fees from Rs 80 per quintal to Rs 120 per quintal, which was an excessive raise considering the problems being faced by farmers.

Also, he said, the maximum duration of storage was being arbitrarily reduced from 30th November to mid October, which could result in the loss of a major part of the crop just before the onset of winter.

In the meeting, Jain said, it was decided that the farmers will not pay more than Rs 80 per quintal for storage of their produce in any cold storage unit in the region. If a cold storage demanded higher amount case was to be reported to the committee, which will then decide on a course of action to be taken on the issue.