Punjab farmers advised to sell potato harvest in March

With the arrival of potato crop in Punjab, a study released by Punjab Agriculture Univeristy (PAU) Ludhiana has advised farmers to sell their potato harvest in the month of March when the prices are expected to touch Rs 575-610 per quintal.

However, traders and companies predict a bumper crop across the country and prices to further slash. “There has been a 2% increase in planting across the country and we expect the crop size to increase by 15%. The table potato prices will touch Rs 3.50 to Rs 4 per kg by the end of February,”said Mr Sachid Madan, director at Technico Agri Sciences, a subsidiary of the cigarette to hotel major ITC Limited.

In West Bengal which is the second largest producer of the commodity, potato prices have crashed to Rs 5-6 per kg in retail, which until recently had been ruling at as high as Rs 20-24 per kg in the state.

West Bengal, agriculture director, GC Burman, informed that the prevailing weather condition were favorable for the crop which was sown on over 3.60 lakh hectares.

"If everything goes well for the next 2-3 weeks, the state is sure to have once again a bumper potato harvest this year. In that case, the supply would be in excess of demand at 50 lakh tonne, which is expected to soften its price,"said Mr Burman. Currently the early varieties of Pukhraj and Jyoti were arriving in the market.