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.
Addressing a press conference here JPGA press secretary Jagat Gill Thamanwal said earlier potatoes from India were exported to Pakistan but the Narendra Modi led government stopped the export to the neighbouring country. He said potatoes growers had suffered huge losses due to demonetization and now their produce was selling at Rs 2.50 per kg even when their cost of production was at Rs 6 per kg.
"Farmers can't bear such huge losses and government intervention is required," he said demanding that special financial assistance should also be announced for potato growers. Meanwhile, the potato growers said that if their issues would not be addressed by June 15 then they would resort to agitation.
"The potato market is still reeling under negative impact of demonetization. After the demonetization there were not orders from other states for potato seeds. In Feb, when fresh crop started coming there was again no trader in the market. Due to transition of government in Punjab nothing much could be done and potato growers kept their produce in cold stores expecting 'achhe din' Now when they have started bringing the produce out of cold stores, farmers are not even able to recover their costs," said Thamanwal and other potato growers.
They said the pace of moving the produce out of cold stores was slow, and in case the situation does not improve, the growers would have to throw out their produce in November. JPGA members said the problem started as money had dried up from the market while potato trading was largely through cash transactions. They said as potato cultivation required high investment, banks were already after them as they were defaulting on payments while failing to recover their costs.