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Showers accompanied with hail in some areas lashed Agra district (Uttar Pradesh, India) early Saturday morning, leaving farmers in this potato belt worried for the crop as it could be affected with diseases and yield poor quality.

Potato production in Uttar Pradesh, the leading potato growing state in India, has been hit by an erratic winter this year.

A clutch of Punjab-based potato farmers are in the final stages of signing a deal with Russian traders for exporting close to 10,000 tonnes of the crop to Russia for the first time.

Though onion prices are yet to cool down, potato prices have dropped at the retail end. An early good crop of potatoes in Punjab, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh has pushed down the prices.

In West Bengal, 7,000 bags or 4,200 tonnes of potatoes, valued at Rs 50 lakh were left to rot on the open ground today because of a dispute between a cold storage facility and the state government.

Late blight, a fungal disease, has attacked the potato crop in Punjab, which is a major producer of tuber crop in the country, raising fear of damage to the crop.

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In India, the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) is planning to launch potato spot trading on its exchange from February next year. It will be the first perishable commodity to be traded under this umbrella.

McCain Foods India, which sources potatoes for its french fries and wedges from Deesa in Gujarat, may look at other states such as Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal or Uttar Pradesh to procure potatoes

Potato farmers have lost lakhs of rupees due to destruction of potato crop by a bout of blight, yet, they are yet to receive any relief money from the Agricultural Department.

Potato price in West Bengal inched up by more than Rs 200-250 a quintal over the last few days on account of a crop failure in the southern markets.

A growing shortage of farm hands and smaller land holdings are forcing many farmers to mechanise their farms, allowing multinational agri implement companies to tap into Indian market.

Consumers of potatoes in the east and south of India will probably have to shell out more than his counterpart in the north, at least for the next two months.

Potato prices crashed by about Rs 100/quintal following release of stocks held by the West Bengal Government in the market.

The state government of West Bengal may incur a loss in its attempt to give relief to the potato farmers following a bumper production last season.

The West Bengal government’s handling of a bumper potato crop this year is becoming a political hot potato.

The West Bengal government Monday announced it will release six lakh tonnes of potatoes to arrest spiralling prices before the coming festive season.

Potato prices may drop as the West Bengal government is all set to offload 1 million tonne (mt) in the market by next week to rapidly cut excess stocks.