Deesa, Gujarat: not enough potato storage space

Potato farmers at Deesa in Gujarat are a worried lot. Lack of enough cold storage in the area has spoiled the euphoria over a bumper potato production.

While the potato production in the region stands at 2.4 crore bags, the cold storages in the area can stock up nearly 1.8 crore bags. With the harvest of potato still on, farmers fear lack of enough storage space may spoil the production.

The unseasonal rain in last few days have added to their woes. While potato production has not suffered much, groundnut, cotton, wheat and cumin crops are likely to suffer. Demanding the government’s intervention, the Deesa farmers had threatened to dump potatoes on roads.

On one hand, the bumper production has pulled down potato prices to R70 per 20 kg from R100 per 20 kg, and on other hand, farmers face cold storage owners who have raised charges by 25 paise per kg. There was a similar situation in 2011 when potato prices fell to R20 per 20 kg, forcing farmers to dump potato leading to a glut in the market.