Potato Prices Fall Sharply; Farmers and Middlemen Worried as Crop Fails to Sell

Falling potato prices have worried farmers and middlemen. The report says a potato crop costing about 250,000 to 300,000 rupees per acre has no buyer even at 50,000 rupees, making it difficult to plant the next crop. Because borders with Afghanistan and Iran are closed, there is no buyer for Punjab’s potato crop. Due to high production, storing potatoes is also a loss, and the crop is not being lifted, causing delays in the next crop as well. Traders said there was a time when commission agents and cold storage owners bought potatoes cheaply and later sold them to consumers for 100 to 150 rupees per kilo, but now no one is willing to take them even at 10 rupees per kilo. Agriculture officials said production is higher this year and efforts are being made to increase exports. Storage owners said farmers who stored potatoes are not coming to collect them, so they are forced to sell them cheaply as animal feed. Growers demanded that the government find an export route and help them, otherwise it will not be possible to grow the next crop.