Potato

West Bengal cabinet gives nod to fix Rs 900 per quintal as MSP for potatoes

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that the state cabinet gave its approval to fix Rs 900 per quintal as the minimum support price for potatoes. "We have decided to fix the new minimum support price (MSP) for potatoes at Rs 900 per quintal to help the farmers. This will also ensure that they do not have to resort to distress sale of their produce," Banerjee said at a press conference at the state secretariat. She also criticised the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for releasing water without informing her government and thus damaging the crops (potatoes) in the fields. "The state government has created a corpus of Rs 321 crore for providing crop insurance to the farmers," she said, adding that her government would purchase somewhat damaged potatoes from the farmers to ensure that they do not face any loss. The cabinet also decided that the inauguration of the Jagannath Temple at the popular coastal town of Digha in Purba Medinipur district will be held on .

Tomato, potato prices make home-cooked meals costlier in Dec: CRISIL report

Prices of home-cooked meals increased in December on dearer key kitchen staples like tomato and potato, a report said on Monday. The average cost of preparing a vegetarian thali was up 6 per cent at Rs 31.6 per plate in December when compared to the year-ago period's Rs 29.7, but was down from preceding November month's rate of Rs 32.7, the report by a unit of rating agency Crisil said. In the roti, rice, rate report which seeks to assess the common man's expenditure on food, Crisil found that a non-vegetarian thali cost was higher by 12 per cent on-year and 3 per cent on-month to Rs 63.3 in December. Explaining the reasons for the costlier food, the report said tomato prices were up 24 per cent at Rs 47 per kg in December, while potato surged 50 per cent to Rs 36 for a kg on a low base. A 16 per cent on-year increase in vegetable oil cost due to import duty hikes by the government aggravated it for the common man, it said. From an on-year perspective, an 11 per cent drop in LPG f

J'khand CM takes note of 'stopping' potato-laden vehicles on Bengal borders

Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Sunday took cognizance on "stopping" of potato-laden vehicles to Jharkhand on Bengal borders, allegedly restricting the supply to the state, an official statement said. The CM directed chief secretary Alka Tiwari to deal with the matter with immediate effect, it said. The West Bengal government has allegedly put restriction on interstate supply of the tuber since Thursday in a bid to maintain the stock and keep the price of potato under control in its state, according to a potato traders' association in West Bengal. On the CM's direction, Tiwari spoke to West Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant over phone for disposal of the matter, according to the official statement. "Pant has assured that a committee will be formed soon to sort out the issue of potato supply," it said. The price of potato has shot up by Rs 5 a kg in Jharkhand's retail market in the past two days after neighbouring West Bengal reportedly restricted the supply of the tuber, according

Potato traders threaten strike if Bengal doesn't allow selling elsewhere

Potato traders of West Bengal threatened to go on strike on Tuesday if the state government does not lift restrictions on selling to other states. West Bengal recently re-imposed curbs on selling potatoes to neighbouring states in an effort to control the prices in the local markets. Potatoes are retailing at Rs 35-40 per kg in the local markets. Following the decision of the state government, police have intensified surveillance at inter-state borders to prevent the transportation of potatoes out of the state. This has led to several trucks being stranded at border crossings. "We will go on strike from Tuesday if the government does not lift the restrictions," Progressive Potato Traders' Association secretary Lalu Mukherjee told PTI. He criticised the government's decision, stating, "Such abrupt measures disrupt our business and cause huge losses as we fail to fulfil commitments." Traders and cold storage associations blamed the state government for failing to control prices in t

Potato price shoots up in Jharkhand as West Bengal 'restricts' supply

The price of potato has shot up by Rs 5 a kg in Jharkhand's retail market in the past two days after neighbouring West Bengal reportedly restricted the supply of the tuber, an official said on Saturday. In a bid to maintain the stock and keep the price of potato under control, the West Bengal government has allegedly put a restriction on interstate supply of the tuber, according to a potato traders' association in West Bengal. West Bengal meets 60 per cent of Jharkhand's potato demand round the year, while the rest of the demand is met by Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and local production. "Around 50-55 trucks, each containing 20-22 tonnne of potato, arrive in Jharkhand from West Bengal. We were informed that the trucks were stopped at Bengal check posts from Thursday, which fuelled the prices of potato in wholesale as well as retail markets from Friday in the state," Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC), Jamshedpur, secretary Abhishek Anand told PTI. He said

Ukraine's potato harvest drops 18% due to poor weather; inflation spikes

Often dubbed 'second bread', potatoes are a staple of the Ukrainian diet, with average consumption at about 130 kg per person a year, well above average bread consumption of up to 20 kg a year

Tomato price volatility exposes gaps in India's agriculture supply chain

Among the vegetables that constitute the trio of TOP (tomato, onion, and potato), tomato is believed to experience the most volatility in prices

Turning leftovers into mileage: How potatoes could soon power your vehicle

The Central Potato Research Institute is expected to start a plant to convert potato waste into ethanol by targeting peels and the starch from potato washing water as key components for conversion

Odisha CM Majhi talks to Mamata, urges her to improve potatoes supply

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday spoke to his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee and requested her to improve potato supply. During a telephonic conversation, Majhi said the supply of potatoes to Odisha had improved after their meeting in New Delhi, but now the situation deteriorated again. The CM urged his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee to intervene in the matter and resolve the problem, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a statement. "Banerjee has assured him of appropriate steps to resolve the issue," it said. The Odisha CM dialled Banerjee after the West Bengal Police allegedly installed CCTV cameras on the border villages to check unauthorized transportation of potatoes to Odisha. The Odisha government has started selling potatoes at Rs 100 for 3 kg in retail shops across the state under the public distribution system (PDS). Odisha Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Minister K C Patra on Sunday said potatoes have been sent to various plac

Potato dispatches from Bengal up 35% day after traders withdraw strike

A day after West Bengal potato traders called off their indefinite strike, dispatch of tubers from cold storages surged by 30-35 per cent to fill the demand vacuum, officials said on Thursday. The traders' body said they would continue to adjust supplies in an effort to stabilise prices. "Since last night, around 8 lakh packets of 50kg each have been dispatched compared to the normal daily average of 6 lakh packets," said Progressive Potato Traders' Association secretary Lalu Mukherjee on Thursday. He assured the state government of adequate supply and asserted that traders would refrain from exporting the produce to other states for now, as the government has pledged to address local concerns first. Rabindranath Kole from the Traders Forum and a state task force member said, "The news of the strike withdrawal has led to some price reduction, but a significant decrease will be seen at the wholesale level, which hovered at Rs 34 per kg, once the produce hits the market in sufficient

Bayer, Solynta partner to roll out hybrid potato seeds in Kenya, India

German agrochemicals giant Bayer on Monday said it has agreed to collaborate with Dutch potato breeding company Solynta for commercialisation and distribution of true potato seeds in Kenya and India. The partnership marks Bayer's entry into the global potato market and represents its first collaboration with Solynta, a specialist in developing hybrid potato varieties. According to Bayer, the initiative aims to introduce true potato seeds as an alternative to traditional seed tubers. These seeds require only 25 grams per hectare compared to 2,500 kg of seed tubers, offering significant logistical and disease-control advantages. Bayer will leverage its distribution networks in Kenya and India to commercialise Solynta's hybrid potato varieties, targeting smallholder farmers in remote areas, it said in a statement. "We expect these true potato seeds to have a positive impact on local communities and on food and nutritional security in Kenya and India," Bayer's Crop Science Division Hea

Pepsico India starts trials to replace palm oil in Lay's: Here's why

PepsiCo India has initiated trials to replace palm oil and palmolein with a combination of sunflower oil and palmolein in Lay's chips

Western Rajasthan sees large scale production of pomegranates, potatoes

According to agriculture experts, the young and educated farmers of Rajasthan are experimenting and abandoning the traditional crops in their fields

PepsiCo India looking to capture bigger share of potato-based chips market

The potato chips market is valued at Rs 9,000 crore, with PepsiCo's Lay's brand as the dominant player

India starts exporting potatoes from Madhya Pradesh to Guyana: Official

India has started exporting potatoes to Guyana for the first time and the move will help in new markets for the country's shipments, a senior commerce ministry official said on Monday. "Two containers of potatoes sourced directly from farmer producer organisation of Madhya Pradesh were exported to Guyana. It was a new product of export to a new market," Additional Secretary in the commerce ministry Rajesh Agrawal told reporters here. Further, Agrawal said a mutual recognition agreement will be signed with Korea to promote trade of organic products and it is likely to be signed this year.

Tomato is not the villain of the rise in retail inflation in June

The kitchen staple may, however, be responsible for its spike in July

Delhi High Court dismisses Pepsi appeal against IPR revocation order

Pepsi had filed an appeal under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001, challenging the December 3, 2021, order

India permits potato imports from Bhutan without any license till Jun 2024

Earlier, it was allowed till June 30 this year

Why falling prices of onions and potatoes are distressing farmers

Prices of these three commodities have seen perhaps the wildest fluctuations in agriculture commodities among all crops for multiple reasons

Nafed intervenes to stabilise markets as onion and potato prices plunge

Sharp drop in onion and potato prices since last few weeks have forced farmers to dump their produce in fields as selling price is far less than even cost of carrying produce to the market