From output surge to lack of cold storage, issues that ail potato farmers

Many a time, farmers do not bother to even come to a cold storage to take delivery of their commodity

Potato farmers are facing a pricing crisis, and a number of factors are contributing to it.

“When I had forayed into the cold storage business in 1998, the retail price of potato in Uttar Pradesh was around Rs 20 a kg. These are still around the same level and sometimes lower,” says Agra-based Rajesh Goyal, acting president of the Federation of Cold Storage Associations of India.

In these 20 years, he adds, farm input costs for potato have doubled from Rs 3 a kg to Rs 7-8 a kg.

Potato sees record production year after year but falling realisation for farmers. And, the