Potato production and marketing in India

Every time there is a rise in the prices of agriculture products, there is much public outcry on the inefficiency of the governments, whom we all love to blame. Well, though it is a known fact that the middle men are the actual beneficiaries, while the farmers who actually produce the food are the worst sufferers in the food value chain.

So, why to study potato you might ask? There are several reasons behind it. One, potato is one of the commonest of all vegetables. In other words, it is a vital part of an average Indian’s diet. Two, it is grown in almost all the states of India, which have very diverse climatic conditions. At first we discuss problems which are already present –

Region wise

North India

North east India

Plateau region South Indian Hills

cold waves and high or low rainfall is major cause of loss.

The area comprises of Sikkim and Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal. Wart caused by Synchytrium endobioticum is a special problem in this area.

: It covers vast areas of central and peninsular India. This zone consists of parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Orissa. Red sandy or fine textured block cotton soils characterize this area. Black soils develop cracks on drying which exposr the tubers to potato tuber moth (PTM) and greening in sunlight.

: This zone comprise of the Southern hill zone in Tamil Nadu. Infestation by cyst nematodes (Globodera rostochiensis and G. pallida) is a special problem of the area.

Problems in cropping-

Seed/tuber Planting methods

Crop protection Harvesting

Supply is from far places(Punjab) and not consistent

Improper seed bed preparation by farmers

Still low

Crop yield is overly dependent on biotic and abiotic stresses

Manual harvesting takes long time

Proper stage of

Early crop faces high temperature at emergence and late crop face frost

Low sugar and high dry matter varities suitable for industries

adoption of new techniques like seed plot technique

Less attention to selection of proper variety

like-frost, fog, blight disease, nematodes

Effective chemicals to control pest are unavailable

harvesting important for sound production

Lack of space to store

Proper intervention to control mixing of many pest –disease absent

Problems after harvesting-

At farmers field During storage Supply in market

Farmers has insufficient infrastructure to store produce, so distress sale

Improper scientific technology leads to rotting of potato and damage by Diamond back moth

Sellers usually pile up stocks and wait for price-hike seasons like-Navratri festival

Where do you get your potatoes from?

Period SourceJanuary-May Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar,

Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, Haryana, Maharashtra, Orissa, Gujarat

May-June Spring crop in hills and North Western plains

July-August Southern HillsOctober-December

Punjab, Uttaranchal

December-January

Southern hills

Long term goals-

Early maturing processing varieties for untapped areas like plateau region;

Development of temperature insensitive processing varieties;

Breeding varieties resistant to cold sweetening;

Specific breeding for problematic regions;

Development of yield and quality enhancing technologies for processing varieties;

Finding low-cost alternative storage technology;

Improving infra-structural facilities and developing inexpensive technologies for the production of diverse potato products

A comprehensive, viable and economical scheme for supplying processing potatoes to the industries round the year

Planning for intervention

Region-specific-

Supply of potato seeds to north-eastern plains from nearby states

Arrangement of disease free potato seed from CPRI

Selection of variety according use of potato-for industries like chips, franch fries, home consumption

Choose varieties according recommendation to that climate, time of planting-early ,mid, late

Avoid areas with regular incidence of aphid attack, blight disease of rice and potato

Crop management

Proper seed bed preparation

Use of seed plot technique to reduce aphid attack

Use treated potatoes for seed

Green manuring application

Proper moisture maintenance and earthing up

Avoid soil cracking by regular controlled irrigation

Right time of digging

Just before harvesting avoid irrigation

Harvesting through machines saves time

Post harvesting operations

Proper storage of potato to increase storage life

Promote cooperative storage

To reduce potato sweetness spray of chemicals like CIPC which not only provide better price but also convenient in use

Strong transport system

Control on piling of stock by aggregators, commission agent

Market interventions

Promotion of contract farming can ensure farmer of regular income- Pepsi and ITC procures potatoes for chips making

Government can arrange for a mechanism to check wide price fluctuations

Length of time for storage should be reduce because-

It occupies space for long time

Detioration in quality

License charge should be reduced for store keepers

Proper supply of pesticides, fertilisers in the market

New horizons opened recently-

Some regions like Nagrota- Bagwan of HP, Malwa region of MP, Deesa of Gujarat etc grow processing quality potatoes and potato processors used to collect processing quality potatoes from the regions. Suitability of potato grown in the above mentioned regions led to the development of indigenous, non-refrigerated potato storage methods. Growth of potato processing industries has vastly stimulated these indigenous potato storage methods where strong linkages between the producers and processors have been established. The returns to the growers are quite handsome ranging from Rs. 900 to 2,390 per ton for a short storage period of three-four months during March-June. Moreover, country can also save precious energy due to development of non-refrigerated potato storages.

Who will be change maker-

Farmers-

By adopting improved tubers (variety), better management and market awareness

Research-

Agricultural universities, CPRI and ICAR will develop varities for different purposes.

Market-

By ensuring better price to farmers in consumers paid money and maintaining smooth supply of inputs and output

Private sector-

Contract farming can provide mutual benefit to industry as well as farmers.

Government-

By putting a cap on potato price and control on future market

Acknowledgement-

Arun Pandit, N Panday and Rajesh K Rana,Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh,Indian Farming Dec. 2008