Potato growers protest low crop prices, lack of cold storage

Farmers under the banner of Bhartiya Kisan Union unloaded trolleys of potato at the busy Kala Aam chowk here today to protest against low prices of the crop and shortage of cold storage facilities.
Famers also made a representation to District Magistrate A K Singh.
The Chipsona brand of potato, used to make chips, is being sold at Rs 3-3.50 a kg against Rs 8-9 a kg last year, said Gajraj Singh, a wholesale potato seller.
There is still no taker for the crop, he added. The district has 30 cold storage units and all of them are packed with potatoes, he said.

The potato growing area of the district is around 10,000 hectares and there is immediate need to install 12 new cold storages with capacity of 50 thousand packets of 50 kg each, said District Horticulture Officer Shyam Kumar Gupta.
He added that he has apprised the state government of the situation.