West Bengal to allow inter-state transfer of potato after October

The West Bengal government has decided to curb its decision to restrict inter-state transfer of potato after October. The new harvest starts coming into the market from November.

Senior officials said this advisory to restrict sale of potato outside West Bengal has been issued to cold storages in the state to tackle the shortage of potato in the local market since the state crop has not been very good. They added that it is not a ban but an advisory which was issued for an indefinite period to members of cold storages urging them to first supply to the local markets and then consider supplying outside the state.

 

This decision is important since West Bengal is one of the major suppliers of potato in the country along with Uttar Pradesh. While harvest from Uttar Pradesh is used for current consumption, West Bengal potato is stored. This is a rare instance when a state has barred transport of its commodity to other states, said officials close to the development.

Currently, potato prices are quoted at Rs 1,200-2,800 a quintal across India. West Bengal and Uttarkhand, where the current harvest is on, are the only two states which have registered a decline in prices since July compared to 4-22 per cent rise in other states.

The state government is of the view that cold storages in the state receive lot of government subsidies and therefore they are obliged to first serve the state government’s needs and demands of the local markets and then consider shipping the surplus outside, if available.

However, industry experts said the central government is silent on this issue. Ministry officials are of the view that fruits and vegetables are covered under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) which is a state subject and, thus, they cannot intervene beyond a point. Industry observers said the ministry of agriculture, while amending the APMC Act has specifically sought amendments to keep fruits and vegetables out of the Act. By keeping fruits and vegetables out of the Act, a farmer will be free to sell his produce anywhere without joining any market structure. Besides, cold storages receive a major part of their subsidy from the Centre and the government has powers to intervene in essential commodities . Potato, onion and tomato are considered essential vegetables upon which the ministry of food has a jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, the current report of the National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) stated that about 35 per cent of stored stocks of potato from cold storages have been supplied in different markets of the country. The balance quantity is sufficient to meet the coming months’ requirements. Some time back, the Union ministry of agriculture had called for a report on the nationwide storage of potato and onion, in the backdrop of the rising prices of vegetables. The ministry, in co-ordination with the ministry of food, keeps checking on the prices of onion, potato and tomato.

There has been a sharp increase in potato prices, currently at Rs 1,150-2,300 a quintal (Rs 11.5-23 a kg), against Rs 510-600 a quintal (Rs 5-6 a kg) in the same period last year. However, market sources said the price may only rise another Rs 4-6 a kg and then remain range-bound, due to consumer buying resistance and decisions to curb use. Official sources said states have been asked to step up anti-hoarding mechanisms to ‘unlock’ the stored potato.