Potato Demand: Odisha Looks to Uttar Pradesh for Potato Supplies Amid Dispute with West Bengal | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: Unhappy with the restrictive practices of West Bengal leading to skyrocketing prices of potato, Odisha govt has started procuring the tuber from Uttar Pradesh and also intends to import it from Punjab, if required, food supplies and consumer welfare minister Krushna Chandra Patra said on Monday. Potatoes from UP have already reached the state and are being sold in the market.“The quality of UP potatoes is better than that of West Bengal. Gradually we will reduce our dependence on West Bengal, so that it will not be in a position to blackmail us, as it has been doing in the past. We may also import potato from Punjab to meet the demands in the state,” said Patra.
Recently, the state faced a crisis as West Bengal govt restricted potato supply leading to high price and shortage in the market. The price of potato has slightly dropped from last week’s Rs 50 per kg and are currently selling at Rs 35-Rs 40/kg in retail markets.
“High price of potatoes is a national trend. But we are trying to stabilize it and in the next couple of days the price will fall further,” said Patra, while refuting allegation that potatoes imported from UP are getting damaged early.
Traders may have to pay Rs 100 extra for every quintal of potato if they procure it from Uttar Pradesh instead of West Bengal. “We must explore other options for procurement of potato other than from West Bengal. We cannot allow our consumers to suffer due to the arm-twisting and blackmailing of West Bengal,” said Sudhakar Panda, secretary of Odisha Byabasayee Mahasangha.
Odisha requires around 12 lakh metric tonnes of potatoes annually.
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