News on The Potato Supply Chain from India

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

Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said the Indian federal government was planning to draw a sustainable roadmap to keep soaring prices of staples tomato, onion and potato under control.

The potato production in West Bengal is expected to drop from last year’s 11 million tonne to 8-10 million tonnes in 2018, but is unlikely to impact the price, officials said.

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.

An ammonia gas leak from a cold storage plant near Agra (UP, India) has caused damage to potato crops across four nearby villages, affecting some 500 farmers in the area.

Potato farmers in the Indian state Punjab are headed for another season of dwindling profits because the cold storage facilities are still flooded with old crop - and several other states are in a similar situation.

Many Potato farmers in South-west Uttar Pradesh (Aligarh, Hathras, Mathura, Agra, Firozabad, Etawah, Mainpuri, Kannauj and Farrukhabad) - accounting for roughly a fifth of India’s total potato production have been unable to sell all their potatoes of last season.

Desarrollada en colaboración con el CIP y el CPRI, Kufri Lima, como se llama la variedad, es temprana, tolerante al calor y resistente a los virus, características muy apreciadas por los agricultores locales.

Farmers in India can expect higher yields and profits with the release of a new potato variety, Kufri Lima, developed by the International Potato Center (CIP) and the Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI)

The Government of India is looking for solutions for preventing physical waste and loss of value of perishable agricultural commodities, according to agriculture experts.

In India, the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) is starting the production of frozen French Fries in October of this year. They have set up shop in North Gujarat, close to McCain Foods India and Hyfun Frozen Foods

FMCG major ITC will continue diversification into new areas with agri business set to play a key role, as part of its 'India First' strategy under which it aims to create 10 million sustainable livelihoods by 2030, according to company CEO and Executive Director Sanjiv Puri.

Indian Market Research firm Esticast Research and Consulting has prepared a Global Agriculture Equipment Market Overview, predicting this market to grow to USD 279.5 billion in 2024, growing at a CAGR of 6.5% from 2017 to 2024.

As Indian FMCG powerhouse ITC rolls out frozen prawns in select cities in the country, the company has lined up a few more product offerings - including frozen (?) processed potatoes.

The Potato Centre of Excellence, Punjab’s only centre of its kind being set up at Dhogri village in Jalandhar, has not been completed yet, though the deadline for the project was 2015.

Last Wednesday in Delhi, potato farmers from Uttar Pradesh handed out free potatoes to the public in protest against the steeply falling prices of the vegetable in Agra.

Within 30 days into potato cultivation this year, growers in Hassan, Karnataka are losing hope of good returns in their field. The poor germination is linked by experts to the lack of rainfall.

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.