News on The Potato Supply Chain from India

February 20, 2008

Gujarat set to reap bumper potato crop

Gujarat, once known for its huge production of banana, is expected to have a bumper potato yield this year. While the crop is expected to have poor harvest in eastern part of the country, the situation is opposite in Gujarat. Potato production is incre...

February 14, 2008

India: Potato futures up on concern output will fall

Potato futures rose on Thursday on speculation a persistent cold wave in the northern region could hurt output, analysts said. On the Multi Commodity Exchange of India, potato futures rose more than 1 per cent, with the most active March contract at Rs...

February 12, 2008

McDonald’s plans food processing unit in Punjab

McDonald’s will set up a food processing unit in Haryana or Punjab with an investment of Rs 100 crore to complement its sourcing activities in the local markets. “We are in discussion with both Punjab and Haryana for opening a food processing plant, wh...

February 07, 2008

Cold weather takes toll on potato harvest in India

India’s potato production in 2007-08 is likely to grow by half its earlier estimate on account of crop damage due to a cold wave in the north, home to the biggest producing regions, a senior official said. “Area has increased in almost all major produc...

January 15, 2008

Bengal all set to gain from potato

West Bengal farmers are now on a track to tap profit from potato cultivation and even started several organised potato processing unit in the state. It seemed to them very profitable compared to any other crop within their limit. According to a recent ...

January 08, 2008

Bengal plans to export surplus potatoes to Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand

To get rid of surplus potato production in the state, the West Bengal government is getting its act in place to explore possibilities of exporting table potatoes to Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand which are deficient in meeting their internal demands...

January 05, 2008

Indian potato farmers strengthen export opportunities with GAP certification

Indian potato is all set to reach out to 80 countries, mostly in Europe, thanks to Indian farmers getting their produce certified by a global agency. Export prospects of potato are looking up with farmers taking Global GAP Certification for the product...

January 04, 2008

Frost hits potato crop in Punjab

Frost, triggered by intense cold wave conditions in the northern region, have hit the potato crop in Punjab damaging mainly the late sown crop. Experts fear that almost 15 to 20 per cent of the crop at several potato fields in Jalandhar, Kapurthala an...

January 01, 2008

Fresh arrivals bring down potato prices in India

With new arrivals at mandis across the country, the potato prices have hit the rock bottom during the past one month.According to traders, wholesale prices of potato came down by an average 40-50 per cent in various mandis over the last one month.At Fa...

December 12, 2007

Late blight returns in Punjab

Late blight, a fungal disease that affects potato crop, has returned to haunt farmers here and the Punjab Agricultural University has issued an alert to growers after coming across fresh infections in a farm in Hoshiarpur district. "We have foun...

December 05, 2007

Check out the Potato Industry in India

Last week I received more information on one of the two (!) large potato conferences next year in India, so I decided this was a good time to pay attention to the fast changes in the Indian Potato Processing industry.

November 25, 2007

Sell potatoes now, Tamil Nadu potato growers told

Potato growers are advised to sell their potato immediately because there will be a decline in the price in the coming months, according to the Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. Price is comparativ...

October 24, 2007

Satnam Agro expected to launch its Indian French fries next month

Satnam Agro Products, established by farmer-turned-entrepreneur Mandeep Singh has set up a state-of-the-art potato processing plant at a cost of Rs 63 crore at Jalandhar. Singh is hoping to launch next month French Fries made out of locally grown Chip...

October 23, 2007

How to tackle the Indian Seed potato shortage

A separate policy on potato and introduction of public-private partnership (PPP) model are required to address the problem of seed shortage faced by farmers, experts said here on Monday. “There is a need to have a separate policy on potato as it is one...

September 11, 2007

Futures trading in potato changes the potato supply chain

Futures trading in potato started last year with contracts available on both MCX and NCDEX and things began changing. The MCX contract is based on prices at the cold storage and the NCDEX contract is based on mandi prices at Delhi. The average daily tu...

August 22, 2007

Technico could boost ITC's Bingo potato chips business.

ITC’s latest acquisition may seem like an extension of its presence in the agri-inputs space. The Zuari group’s seed potato business Technico Pty in Australia will add to its agri-input business. But just as trading in wheat gives it an edge in sourci...

August 18, 2007

Indian ITC takes over Australian owner of Technituber technology

Diversified major ITC Ltd, which launched potato chips under the brand Bingo, has taken over Australian agri-biotech company Technico Pty Ltd for an undisclosed sum, as part of a strategy to strengthen its foods business. An ITC spokesperson said th...

August 14, 2007

Battle for Indian chips potatoes

A battle being fought between biggies like Pepsico, Reliance Retail and ITC one that could decide who makes the crisper chip. For the past seven years contract farming has ensured Pepsico to source 40 per cent of its need from Western Maharashtra, pota...