UP potato farmers may gain from Pak floods

India’s potato farmers are looking at tapping the Pakistan market for some respite from an output glut and dwindling prices. Pakistan’s decision to lift the ban on import of potatoes from India has pleased farmers here.

There was an oversupply of potato from Uttar Pradesh (UP) last year and seven million tonnes of stock is still in the cold storages.

Farmers have been reluctant to withdraw it, as they would not get enough price to pay the storage cost. Prices in the wholesale market have been falling since the past month and arrival of fresh stock from Uttarakhand and Karnataka has added to their woes; there is hardly any demand for old stock.

In such a situation, demand from flood-hit Pakistan is likely to prevent a 2007-like situation, when farmers had to dump their output on the roads. According to potato trader Dhananjay Singh Chauhan, counterparts in the Delhi market are in constant touch with them and as soon as orders from Pakistan start, the first preference will be given to UP. He said potato from UP will be cheaper in terms of freight.

According to the president of the UP Cold Stores Association, Mahendra Swaroop, by this month, 40 per cent of the stored potato should have been withdrawn but it is not happening.

This year, the production in UP was 12 million tonnes and of this, nine million tonnes was put in cold stores.

Both in 2002 and 2007, there was a potato glut in UP and due to low rates, farmers did not withdraw their produce from cold stores. Ultimately, several tonnes were dumped on the streets.