Potato prices have declined by 40 per cent in the last fortnight to Rs 649.30 a quintal from Rs 1081.80 per quintal on November 1 following bumper arrivals at major producing centres such as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. | |
| Near-month contract on the NCDEX has declined by 25 per cent to Rs 689.40 a quintal from Rs 913.60. On the MCX, the recently expired contract for Tarkeshwar variety for November 15 delivery, declined 14 per cent to end at Rs 454.70 a quintal compared with Rs 528.90 on November 1. |
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| For March 2007 delivery, the contract closed at Rs 463.30, a decline of 7.34 per cent in the last four trading sessions, as the contract opened for trade on November 14. |
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| Experts believe that demand for quality potato has increased substantially by retail chains, especially from Reliance Retail. Therefore, stockists would charge premium over normal price in spot and futures, a trader said. |
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| India is the fifth largest potato producer after China, Russia, Poland and Ukraine with a total output of 25 million tonne. But, the ongoing retail boom and change in consumers' mindset to shift gear to ready-to-eat segment would certainly drive demand in future, an analyst said. |
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| "In the short term, there could be a slight increase in the price owing to increasing demand for seed potato. Though supply from Punjab and Shimla has started, it would not be enough to feed the demand. Most cold storages have shut and no supply would come from them. Fresh arrivals that are expected by month-end may soften prices," said an analyst with Karvy Comtrade. |
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| Supply from Punjab has started early and demand was low as the people were paying more attention to green vegetables than potato because of price parity. |
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