Potato prices Shoot Up- Traders Reap a Windfall

Jalandhar is a major potato growing area. Some time back , on harvest , the prices of potato had crashed to such lows that growers had dumped some of their produce on roads. Now with in weeks,the retail price has nearly doubled from Rs.4-5 per Kg to Rs.10/ Kg.

These violent fluctuations help neither the grower nor the consumer. There is an urgent need to develop a marketing and storage mechanism which can absorb such shocks. More cold stores in Govt. sector, forward trading ( futures market ), better co-ordination with foreign and neighboring countries and establishment of agro processing industrial units can be the possible solutions.