Govt to create buffer stock of potato

The government will create a buffer stock of potato as prices are likely to increase in the coming months due to estimated fall in the output of the rabi crop, Parliament was informed today.
The buffer stock of potato would be created using the Rs 900-crore Price Stablisation Fund (PSF). The objective of this fund is to control price volatility, thereby protecting interest of farmers and consumers. The fund is being used for creating buffer stock of pulses and onions.
"Government is considering creating buffer stock of potato during year 2016 keeping in view the price trend of potato," Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

Total rabi potato crop is estimated to fall by 11.3 per cent in 2015-16 compared to 2014-15 and "prices are likely to increase in the coming months," he said.
Unfavourable weather conditions and late blight disease in some pockets of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are some of the reasons for lower production, the minister added.
In 2014-15, total potato output stood at 48 lakh tonnes.
UP, West Bengal and Bihar are major patoto producing states.
In Agra, wholesale prices of potato have risen by 80 per cent to Rs 6.70 per kg in the first fortnight of this month, as per the government data.