Potato Prices unlikely to Drop to 8-10 INR a kg this Year: Experts

Potato prices are likely to remain firm this year because of a fall in acreage for the new crop in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, the two top producing states.

Market players and experts said retail prices of this common man’s vegetable might not fall to Rs 8-10 per kg this year. Last year during the first half, retail prices were around this level.

In Uttar Pradesh, area under the crop has reduced 8-10 per cent from a year earlier, while in West Bengal, the acreage has come down 2-3 per cent, they said.

Unseasonal rains since October in the potato-growing areas of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have damaged the crop, resulting in a shortage of the tuber vegetable’s supply and driving prices up by 60 per cent.

Markets were expecting the prices to come down from the beginning of this year, but that did not happen. Farm-gate prices are currently around Rs 18–20 per kg in UP.

Arvind Agarwal, Cold Storage Association of Uttar Pradesh secretary:

“Actually, the area under potato production in Uttar Pradesh has come down by 8-10 per cent for the new crop. Farmers in certain parts of the state have shifted to crops like garlic, mustard and others. This has resulted in a decline in acreage.”

“We do not see prices to fall this year.”

“The sowing of crop is complete in the state and new potatoes have started arriving. However, a clearer picture on what will be the crop size this year is yet to emerge.”

UP had produced 16 million tonnes of potatoes in 2019. Of this, 11.5 million tonnes were loaded in cold storages and the rest sold directly by farmers at the farm-gate level. If prices remain firm in Uttar Pradesh, it would impact that in West Bengal as well.