POTATO GROWERS EXPECT BETTER HARVEST PRICES

Farmers have to decide about allocating area under potato, as the crop sowing is in progress. The Agricultural Market Intelligence Centre (AMIC), Department of Economics & Sociology, PAU, made an analysis of the trend and thereby generated important information regarding various aspects of production and marketing of potato at various levels. This was disclosed by Dr. J.S.Sidhu, Incharge, AMIC adding that based on the information the farmers and other stakeholders could plan sowing and marketing operations.



Dr. Sidhu said that potatoes are grown in about 155 countries around the world and more than a billion people worldwide eat this vegetable. About 320 million tonnes of potato was produced worldwide over an area of about 19.33 million hectares in 2010. The top-ten producers in the world are China (22% of total world production) followed by Russia (11%), India (8%), US and Ukraine (6% each), Poland and Germany (4% each), Belarus (3%) and Netherlands and France (2% each), he said.



The total potato production in India stagnated at nearly 20 mt from 1.30 million hectares until 2005-06 and increased to 30 mt from 1.50 mha in 2008 and again declined to 25 mt from 1.40 mha in 2009. Dr. Sidhu elaborated that around 80% of potato is produced as Rabi crop, sown in October and harvested in January through March. The rest of the production mainly comes from kharif crop produced in Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand and summer crop from the hilly areas of Karnataka. The major potato producing states are Uttar Pradesh producing 39% of total production followed West Bengal (35%), Gujarat (6%), Punjab (5%), Bihar (4%), MP and Assam (2% each) and Karnataka (1%). The major domestic markets of potato in different states are Agra, Kanpur, Hoogly, Burdwan, Jalandhar, Ujjain and Hassan.



Presenting the prevailing scenario of potato cultivation, Dr. Sidhu said that in Punjab, the area under potato varies between 60-80 thousand hectares and the production between 11-15 lakh tonnes with a yield range of 16-20 tonnes per hectare (2000-08). The area under potato during 2008-09 and 2009-10 was 81 and 83 thousand hectares, respectively. The corresponding production was 20 and 21 lakh metric tonnes. The major portion of the area is concentrated in the districts of Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Moga, Bathinda and Patiala. About half of the produce is contracted at the farmer's fields by the traders from major potato producing states like U.P, Bihar, M.P, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Because of typical climatic conditions, the seed from Punjab is preferred by the other states as it gives relatively more yield as compared to their local produced seeds. Commenting upon the decline in potato production in other major potato producing states that resulted in increased demand for seed potato from Punjab, Dr. Sidhu said that it ultimately led to rise in prices.



Normally, potato prices remain low during December to February and start rising afterwards, reaching maximum during October and November. The price variability between peak and lean season depends upon the area planted and the yield which further depends upon the climatic conditions and the attack of diseases and pests, particularly the late blight in the major potato producing States, said he. The potato production hit a record 30 mt in the country during 2008, resulting in sharp price decline. Consequently, area under potato declined during 2009. At the same time the production of potato in West Bengal declined by 70 % due to late blight resulting in 25% decline in national potato production which increased the demand for potato seed from Punjab. Ultimately, the potato prices touched Rs. 1100 per quintal in Punjab. Reversely, during 2010 the potato production in India increased by 20% which led to sharp decline in prices (Rs. 200-300 per quintal) in Punjab. The Department of Horticulture, Punjab, has fixed target of 83 thousand hectares, which was the same the last year.



The AMIC analyzed the wholesale prices of potato that prevailed during the last decade in important markets of potato in Punjab, UP and West Bengal, said Dr. Sidhu adding that the trader opinion was also obtained regarding the future prospects of potato crop in Punjab. The information from commodity future markets like MCX, NCDEX, etc. and other relevant sources were also considered. The experts are of the opinion that the low potato prices during 2009-10 may discourage farmers to reduce some area from under potato in the coming season and the wholesale prices are expected to increase and may lie between Rs. 450 to 550 per quintal during January to March, 2011. From the past trends it is estimated that with 1.0 % fall in national production, the potato prices increase by 10-15 %. Farmers can use this information while taking potato production and marketing decisions, said Dr. Sidhu.


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