In a first-ever initiative, the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday hosted a daylong potato buyer-seller meet in a city hotel with the sole objective of exhausting its annual surplus produce.
Organised jointly by the UP department of horticulture and food-processing and UP horticultural co-operative marketing federation (Hofed), the meet was attended by 50 people, mostly potato farmers from the northern state and prospective buyers from Jharkhand.
“We produce 35 per cent of the country’s potatoes and these are also of very good quality,” Dharampal Yadav, deputy director of horticulture, Lucknow, told the gathering.
“The purpose of this meet is to make these better quality potatoes available in your state. Also, we wish to build a system whereby potato growers of UP can sell their produce directly to traders in Jharkhand for a fair price,” pitched in Pankaj Kumar, also a deputy director of horticulture posted in Meerut.
On the sidelines of the meet, Yadav said UP had grown around 160 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of potatoes this time like every year. “Around 45 lakh MT ends up being surplus and we sell these to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Jharkhand, and also countries like Nepal and Sri Lanka, besides those in West Asia. If growers can send their produce straightaway to potato dealers in these places, they may make more profit,” he added.
Devendra Tyagi, a farmer from Agra, told this reporter that surplus produce meant he often didn’t get reasonable rate for his potatoes. “I grow around 500MT a year and am able to sell only 90 per cent of it, sometimes at a throwaway price. Wholesalers pocket the maximum profit. Selling to a direct market or a cooperative society in another state will not deprive me of my share of profit,” he said.
Madan Prasad, vice-president of Jharkhand Alu-Pyaaj Bikreta Sangh, said Jharkhand bought potatoes mostly from Bengal. “We are keen on getting better produce straight from growers. If quality is good, buyers in the retail market won’t mind paying Rs 2 extra a kilo,” he said when asked if increased transportation charges would discourage buyers.
Surendra Singh, managing director of Jharkhand state vegetable marketing federation (Vegfed) that has 451 co-operative societies affiliated to it, said as of now, they were dealing only in green vegetables. “But, we can consider buying potatoes from UP.”
Manish Kumar, CMD of Dynamic Tarang, said he had a food-processing unit in Baharagora where potato products could be made. “We came here to explore possibilities of using good quality potatoes from UP,” he added.
