The wholesale price of the tuber (Jyoti variety) dropped Rs 5-10 a quintal and hovered around Rs 380-400 a quintal, according to Mr Patit Paban De, Member, West Bengal Cold Storage Association.
“Close to 25 per cent of the potatoes have been released from cold storages till date, this is against 19 per cent last week. This explains the drop in prices,” Mr De told Business Line.
Close to 58 lakh tonne of potatoes have been stored in the 403-odd cold storages across the state.
The prices would continue to remain range-bound and might see a movement of just about Rs 5-10 a quintal in the days to come, he said.
“Very small quantities of potatoes are being exported to other countries, however, this has kept the sentiment positive so far and has prevented prices from crashing,” he pointed out. There has been a good demand for Bengal potatoes in states such as Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and the north-eastern States, mainily Assam.
“Bengal potatoes are comparatively cheaper compared with potatoes of other States such as Uttar Pradesh and the quality is also good. So they are finding acceptance in these markets,” he said.
However, the demand was likely to come down on new arrivals in the southern markets.
“Post August, new potatoes will arrive in the southern markets, so demand for Bengal potatoes will be lower, this will also have an impact on prices,” he observed.
