Punjab farmers threaten to dump potatoes on Jalandhar roads as prices crash

Jalandhar: Potato farm prices dropping to as much as Rs 1 per K, farmer around Jalandhar have decided to protest on 15th December by throwing potatoes onto roads.

To register our protest, we intend to start our agitation on 15th December by asking all potato growers to bring their crop to Jalandhar and throw in on the roads as an protest about the insensitive attitude of the government towards our problems, JS Sangha, president Jalandhar Potato Growers Association was quoted to have announced by media reports.

He claimed that the going rates for potatoes lying in cold stores was Re 1 and due to excess supply, early sown crop was fetching Rs 2 to 3 per Kg.

The farmers are demanding freight subsidy for marketing of the old crop in the domestic market and Rs 2 for export in order to bail them out of the crisis.

Senior officials of Markfed say that a proposal to offer freight subsidy on the lines of the 2009 potato glut had been moved before the government.

Potato growing areas of Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Nawanshahar, Bathinda, Ludhiana and Moga are bearing the brunt of glut conditions because of having stored last years crop in heavy quantities in anticipation of getting higher prices.

Low demand for seed potato from states of Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh is said to be reason for prices having crashed.

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