Centre to buy 1 lakh tonnes potato from UP farmers at Rs 4,870 per tonne

This is being done to arrest the sharp fall in prices in UP in the wake of a likely bumper crop

The Centre on Tuesday decided to purchase around 100,000 tonnes of potatoes from Uttar Pradesh farmers in the 2016-17 season at Rs 4,870 per tonne to arrest the sharp fall in prices.

According to an official statement released on Tuesday, the government will give an extra Rs 1,217.60 per tonne or actual whichever is less for overhead expenses, such as transportation charges, mandi tax and godown charges to farmers.

A decision to procure potato in UP under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) has been approved by the Union Agriculture Ministry. The MIS will be implemented by the state agency, the