Potato production set to rise in HP

After two crop failures in a row this year, Himachal Pradesh’s well-known seed potato grown in the tribal Lahaul valley is abundant , and traders have started gathering from all over the country to buy the vegetable.

Almost the entire crop has been transported to the Kullu valley in Manali via the Rohtang pass which could be blocked any day by snowfall for the next six months. “This time we have a bumper crop after a poor output since the past two years . The crop this year could have been even higher as farmers grew less potato this time ,” said Amar Chand Dogra , MD of the Lahaul Potato Growers Society (LPGS) . Close to 2.5 lakh bags of Lahaul potato have been harvested as compared to last year’s 1.5 lakh bags .