Potato is gold for farmers as rates stay high for 2nd year in a row

Farmers say potato prices saw an increase last year, after six years. They say such fluctuation in rates is not a good trend, as some seasons they are not even able to recover their production cost

Karnal Darshan Lal, a middle-aged farmer from Kurukshetra’s Ladwa village, is happy as he has earned around Rs 2 lakh per acre by selling 322 quintal potato, grown over three acre, at Rs 2,000 per quintal at the Pipli mandi.

Due to the hike in prices, farmers have started uprooting premature potato and are earning between Rs 1.75 lakh and (HT Photo)

He says this is the second year in a row, when the rate of raw potato (uprooted early) are above Rs 30 a kg in the market and farmers are getting between Rs 1,800 and Rs 2,000 per quintal at the mandi.

Last year too, potato prices at the Pipli market in Kurukshetra district touched Rs 2,000 per quintal.

Arrivals in one of the largest potato mandis in the state has fluctuated due to last week’s untimely rain, but farmers say harvesting will pick up over the next few weeks.

Due to the hike in prices, farmers have started uprooting premature potato and are earning between Rs 1.75 lakh and Rs 2.25 lakh per acre of potato, which requires input cost of Rs 50,000 per acre.

“Farmers can earn profit of around Rs 1.25 lakh per acre, as rates are high. Early harvest also reduces input cost,” said Rajiv Kumar from Shahbad of Kurukshetra district, who has 5 acre under the staple vegetable. Farmers say potato prices saw an increase last year, after six years. They say such fluctuation in rates is not a good trend, as some seasons they are not even able to recover their production cost with prices dipping to Rs 2 per kg.

Rajesh Kamboj, a farmer of Yamunanagar, said, “We don’t know the reason behind the high prices. This is good news for potato growers, as there have been seasons when we have lost Rs 10,000 per acre, as prices were Rs 3 per kg, like in 2018.” Potato traders claim that prices depend upon the acreage and demand, but they do not have complete clarity of the mechanism.

Haryana horticulture department officials said due to continuous fall in potato prices over years, acreage under potato fell to around 20,000 hectare this year from 35,000 hectare in 2013. “There needs to be an assured price, as instability of price of vegetables creates deep uncertainty,” said an official of the horticulture department, adding that this was the only reason farmers are not too keen on diversification.