Potato News from Asia

Hurt by the steep price fluctuation in the mass variety of potatoes (Jyoti variety), farmers in West Bengal are taking to the production of Chandramukhi – a premium category of the tuber – to earn steady returns.

Growers and traders of potatoes are likely to suffer losses worth nearly Rs7 billion as the exports of the vegetable have been halted due to the negligence of the government.

In a bid to enhance shelf-life of potatoes, Gujarat will soon set up its first potato dehydration centre in Palanpur town with a handling capacity of 500 kg per hour.

Potato prices are expected to remain firm for the next few months in West Bengal. Prices have gone up by almost 34% for regular variety of potato over the last few months.

Processed food player McCain Foods Pvt Ltd is set to double its retail network in India from the current 4,500 to 9,000-10,000.

The West Bengal government (India) would revamp the ailing potato seeds institute at Kalimpong to keep its supply line intact for the benefit of farmers in the state without depending on Punjab or Haryana.

Burger King Worldwide Holdings Inc. said on Friday it plans to open 1,000 of its namesake restaurants in China over the next five to seven years under a newly-formed joint venture.

McCain Foods Pvt Ltd will bring 8,000 acres under potato cultivation in Gujarat (India) by 2014.

Pakistani exporters of potato are facing a loss of millions of dollars as Russia has stopped clearance of consignments after complaining that the potatoes from Pakistan are infected with a disease.

The Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has asked farmers to sell potato on harvest as there were less chances of price increasing.

Roquette, one of the global leaders in the starch industry announced today in Lestrem (Pas-de-Calais, France) the acquisition of the 3 starch production sites of the leading Indian starch manufacturer, Riddhi Siddhi Gluco Biols Ltd. Roquette takes the ...

The Karnataka Government has announced a Rs 17.5-crore special package for potato growers of seven districts, who have suffered crop loss due to destruction by pests.

Lay's, the much loved potato chip and a leading brand from PepsiCo, today revealed the conclusion to its five month 'Flavor Me' campaign to find a new flavor chip as nominated by the public.

Institute of Informatics and Development (IID) organized two dissemination workshops titled “Increasing efficiency and inclusiveness in Agriculture: Findings of the Jute and Potato supply chain study”.

BioFach China 2012 will be held in Shanghai International Exhibition Center from May 24th to 26th. China is a very promising market for organic produce and is about to reach a phase of rapid growth, with an estimated value of 59.4 billion yuan by 2015,...

The Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE), one of China's two agricultural commodities exchanges, is considering introducing potato futures trading among a raft of new agricultural contracts set to launch later this year.

The government may be pressing the panic buttons due to spiralling food prices, but it failed to read the writing on the wall five months ago when thousands of farmers across Haryana, Punjab and UP set ablaze hundreds of tonnes of potatoes on the streets to protest low prices and mounting losses due to a glut.

Akkar potato farmers suffered a serious blow this season after losing one third of their crops due to bad weather conditions, the local farmers association said Monday.