Potato supply starts, but prices remain high

Scarcity in supply of potato eased in the city with arrival of 23 truck-loads of the tuber, though its prices continued to remain high in the market.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal government refused to relax the restrictions imposed on export of potatoes. The traders in the state are making all-out effort to import the vegetable from other states.

"The supply of potato has started from Monday. The prices will normalise if the present flow of supply continues," said Madhusudan Padhi, secretary, Food and Supplies department.

A lion's share of state's potato requirement is met by supplies from West Bengal.

The wholesale price of the tuber hovered around Rs 30 per kg while the retail price remained at about Rs 40 per kg.

The prices of potato has skyrocketed in last few days to around Rs 50 per kg with the West Bengal government imposing restrictions on its export to contain the prices in the local market. Sources said, 400 trucks of potatoes are required daily in the state.

"We are in touch with the traders of different states. Once the supplies improve, there will be no scarcity of potato," said Sudhakar Panda, chairman, Bhubaneswar Merchants Association. Five truck-loads of potato arrived in Cuttack today. Similarly, Sambalpur, Rourkela, Nayagarh and Balasore received four truck-loads each while three trucks carrying the vegetable reached Keonjhar.