News on Potato Trade from India

Tarun Teja Goli, Agro-Potato Procurement and Supply Chain Manager at Agristo India, has provided an in-depth analysis of the recent fluctuations in India's processing potato market.

India, now the world’s second-largest potato producer, is rapidly expanding its exports of frozen potato products, driven by innovation and strategic market positioning. With record-breaking production and ongoing research, the country aims to become the top global potato exporter by 2050.

The Global Potato Summit 2025 in Greater Noida will focus on sustainability, technology, and growth opportunities in the potato industry. It will feature exhibitions, conferences, live demos, and networking to address key sector challenges.

The state cabinet on Tuesday approved a minimum support price (MSP) of INR 900 (USD 10.8) for a quintal of potato after reports that farmers were forced to go for distress sale of the crop following bumper production this year.

Potato vendors and cold storage owners in West Bengal are unhappy after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered restrictions in the last week of November 2024 on selling produce to neighbouring States. It has led losses for all the stakeholders, they claim.

It is a versatile vegetable that finds itself in varied dishes and is an especially popular feature of cuisine in eastern states — aloo posto In West Bengal (or for that matter Kolkata biryani, which is defined by the potato), aloo chokha in Jharkhand

In 2024, India's processing potato market saw significant price fluctuations, rising from INR 8/kg (USD 0.10/kg) in January to over INR 25/kg (USD 0.30/kg) due to varying demand and weather impacts, with expectations for stabilization in the coming months.

Faced with soaring potato prices, India secures a steady supply for three years by extending license-free imports from Bhutan.

M S International - a major exporter of potatoes for processing - has received the prestigious FIEO (WR) Export Excellence Award in the Emerging Exporter (MSME) category for the year 2020-2021.

Export data show that from January to September 2022, India exported about 153,000 tons of fresh or refrigerated potatoes suitable for the production of potato chips, an increase of 42% compared to last year.

Potato production in the current crop year is estimated to be 53.60 mt, down from 56.17 mt last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture's first estimate of horticulture production.

With retail potato prices rising sharply over April and May, the government of India has decided to permit the import of Potatoes from Bhutan without any license up to June 30, 2022.

Predicting a bumper harvest of potato this season, the West Bengal Cabinet on Monday decided to allow cold storage owners to purchase at least 10 lakh (1 Million) metric tons of tuber from farmers at a fixed price, so that they do not have to suffer losses, a senior official said.

Snacks and beverages manufacturer PepsiCo plans to invest $5 million by 2020 to expand its sustainable farming programme in India.

In an effort to limit the spread of the Potato Cyst Nematode, the government of India has prohibited the movement of seed potatoes from Himachal, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and Jammu Kashmir to other states

Higher potato prices are reported in various states of India (Punjab, West-Bengal), offering relief (Punjab) or even a windfall (West-Bengal) for farmers.

Four months after farmers dumped potatoes on road in Mohali and other parts of the Indian state Punjab, seeking remunerative price for their potato crop, state government has allowed the staple food’s export to Russia and the Middle East.

With their product rotting, potato growers in Indian East Punjab are suffering huge losses and Jalandhar Potato Growers Association (JPGA) has demanded urgent export of potatoes to Pakistan and availability of express rail rakes for transporting their produce to southern states.