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Odisha has been facing an acute shortage of potatoes over the last four weeks, resulting in a steep increase in the price of the staple to a sky-high Rs 55-60/kg.
So, what is behind the potato crisis? And how is Odisha seeking to address the issue?
Odisha is heavily dependent on neighbouring West Bengal for its potato requirement. Unfortunately, since mid-July the West Bengal government has banned the supply of potatoes to other states to stabilise the price of the tuber in the state.
According to Dilip Pratihar, former secretary of West Bengal Potato Merchants’ Association, Bengal has seen a 20 per cent dip in potato production this year, compared to the previous year, due to unseasonal rain in December-January (when the potato crop is sown). But the WB government’s move has kept retail prices of the tuber at Rs 25-28/kg.
Crucially, West Bengal is among the largest producers of potatoes in India, producing 23.51 per cent of the country’s total share in 2021-22, according to the Government of India’s Agri Exchange trading platform. This is second only to Uttar Pradesh (29.65 per cent). The potato is largely cultivated in the districts of Medinipur, Hooghly, Bankura, and Bardhaman in north Bengal.
Potato production in Odisha is much lower, despite the tuber being a staple in the state like in much of eastern India. According to market sources, potato demand in the state stands at over 13 lakh metric tons (mt) annually. Odisha’s own production is only around 3 lakh mt, limited to small pockets in the Kandhamal, Koraput and Kalahandi regions. Odisha is thus forced to service 90% of its potato demand with the help of other states.
This is not the first time Odisha has faced such a supply crunch. In April 2015, the state launched a mission to make Odisha a potato-surplus state. This was to be done by increasing potato production, primarily using a system of incentives, and by strengthening the state’s storage and distribution system.
The mission failed to achieve the desired results. As against a target of having 60,000 hectares under potato cultivation, set in 2015-16, the area under production went up from 15,000 hectares to 25,000 hectares in 2020-21. There was also no significant increase in production, which went up from 3.02 lakh mt in 2015-16 to 3.09 lakh mt in 2020-21.
The failure of this mission can be attributed to the lack of adequate cold storage facilities in the state and poor market linkage for farmers. This leads to distress sales of potatoes post-harvest. Officials say that currently, only 36 cold storage facilities are functional in Odisha while 97 lie defunct.
Addressing the crisis
Both Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and former CM Naveen Patnaik have appealed to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to open up supplies. Their pleas have so far fallen on deaf ears.
To stem the crisis, the Odisha government has decided to procure potatoes from Uttar Pradesh through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED). Odisha’s food supply and consumer welfare minister Krushna Chandra Patra said the decision has been taken to supply potatoes to consumers at Rs 30 per kg. The government has placed an order to procure 300 mt of potatoes in the first phase. Initially, this supply will be made available through government retail shops in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Sambalpur and Berhampur.
Moreover, to stabilise the price of the tuber, the state government on Saturday started selling the tuber (3 kg for Rs 100) at its 100 fair-price shops in Bhubaneswar.
