Cold storage association urges Bengal govt to allow inter-State trade of potato immediately
The West Bengal Cold Storage Association on Tuesday urged the State government to allow potato traders to sell the spud to the other States immediately, with large stocks of potatoes lying unused in the cold storages.
The association further said if the government cannot lift the ban on inter-State movement of potatoes, then it should take steps to buy the tuber from the cold storages across Bengal.
“This year around 65 lakh tonnes of potatoes were loaded in the cold storages across the State. Currently, we still have around 4.10 lakh tonnes of potatoes in the storages. We anticipate that if the government does not allow inter-State trade immediately, then around 3 lakh tonnes of potatoes would be lying unused with us at the end of December 2024. Should these stocks remain in cold storage even after the new harvest, there is risk of spoilage, which would result in significant financial losses for both farmers and cold storage operators,” Subhajit Saha, Vice-President, West Bengal Cold Storage Association, said at a press meet here.
“If the government cannot lift the ban on inter-State movement of potato from Bengal, then it should buy the spud lying at the cold storages to safeguard the interests of potato growers, traders and cold storages,” Saha added.
The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government had recently restricted inter-State supply of the tuber in a bid to maintain the stock and keep the price of potato under control. Potatoes have been retailing at around ₹35-40 per kg in the local markets.
Total production of the spud in the State was estimated to be around 100 lakh tonnes in 2023-24. West Bengal sells around 20-25 lakh tonnes of excess potatoes to other States every year. States like Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam depend on the spud grown in Bengal.
Notably, potato traders went on strike earlier this month, demanding that they be allowed to sell the spud to the other States.
After assurance from the government that it would consider their appeal to allow inter-State trade, traders of the tuber decided to withdraw the strike.