Potato prices crash as West Bengal offloads stock in market

Potato prices crashed by about Rs 100/quintal following release of stocks held by the West Bengal Government in the market.

The wholesale price of the Jyoti variety hovered around Rs 300/quintal on Monday, according to Mr Patit Paban De, Past-President, West Bengal Cold Storage Association.

The price of the tuber was hovering at around Rs 600-700 a quintal a fortnight ago due to a demand-supply mismatch following the delay in offloading of government stocks in the market, Mr De told Business Line. “Now with the government releasing stocks in the market, prices have gradually come down and dropped by about Rs 100/quintal from last week,” he said.

The West Bengal Government had procured 9.75 lakh tonnes of potatoes through the consumer co-operatives under the West Bengal State Consumers Cooperative Federation (Confed) during this year. “The Government has so far released about three lakh tonnes in the market and is likely to release the remaining six lakh tonnes by the end of this month or by early next month. This will cause prices to crash further,” he pointed out.