North Gujarat: Land of Potatoes for Processing

Planting of potatoes for the season 2023 was completed in North Gujarat, India, by November 2022. This region is well-known for producing the best quality potatoes for manufacturing Potato Chips and French Fries.

As per the available data from the Government and Cold Storage Associations, around 105,000 MT of seed potato was planted on approximately 44,000 Hectares in the main potato-growing districts of North Gujarat — Aravalli and Sabarkantha.

Overall, in Gujarat, around 405,000 MT of seed potato was planted across 147,000 Hectares. This includes both Table and Process varieties. The Process Variety potatoes are meant to be used for making French Fries and Potato Chips. The production of potatoes suitable for processing is expected to be 1.9 Million MT while the production of the Table variety potatoes is expected to be 3.3 Million MT.

Compared to other states in India, Gujarat produces the best quality of potatoes. Farmers in Gujarat follow the best practices to produce good-quality potatoes.

Using the Best Quality Seeds, Drip Irrigation Facility and Water-Soluble fertilizers lead to better yield and quality of potato for the farmers. In addition to this, the advance contract practice helps the farmers to avoid any losses due to market fluctuations. In the advance contract method, the deal for the potatoes is made at the time of plantation or just after the plantation of the potatoes.
 A favourable winter season winter season was observed in Gujarat, so a good crop is expected. The harvest will begin around February 20, 2023, and potatoes will be available thereafter. Both domestic and overseas manufacturers of Potato Products mainly use the potatoes harvested in Gujarat.

The potatoes are harvested only once a year in Gujarat during February to Mid - March. Later these potatoes are supplied till August-September in the export market and till November in Domestic Market from Cold Storages.

During 2022, Gujarat had approximately 532 Cold Storages, and the North Gujarat region had approximately 95 Cold Storages. And for the season 2023, the total cold storage in North Gujarat will be 105 with addition of 10 new cold storages.

M S International is the leading exporter of potatoes suitable for processing from Gujarat. It procures the best quality material from farmers in their area by contract farming. The company has its cold storage facility to store 28,000 MT of potatoes.

It is also equipped with the 2 pack house facilities with Grading, Sorting, and Packing facilities of the world-renowned brand Allround, owned by the company. These facilities help to deliver material as per the requirement of consignee from 25 Kg packing to Jumbo Bags.

M S International will also keep other facilities in the surrounding area on rent for additional storage. The availability of the best infrastructure facilities and group of farmers has helped M S International to become a leading exporter of potatoes suitable for processing from India to Middle East and Far East countries.