Agra: Unable to sell their produce in the open market due to prices crashing every day, potato growers in the state are in distress. In an appeal to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, they have said that the government should treat them like other farmers and bail them out too.It is estimated that around 4.5 crore sacks of 50 kg each, totaling 22 lakh tonnes of potatoes, are stacked in cold storages of Agra district alone, which is the state’s largest potato-growing region. The state government has as of now bought 1,293 metric tonnes of potatoes, which is 0.1% of the total 120 lakh metric tonnes in cold storages of UP. At the mandis, nobody is selling.The Yogi government had revised the minimum support price (MSP) for potato earlier and fixed it at Rs 487 per quintal, but farmers say it is too low to benefit them.For the past weeks, farmers have waited for prices to stabilise in the open market, storing their produce all this while. But potato prices, at Rs 120 per quintal currently, have only been crashing. What’s worse, there may be more trouble coming their way.According to horticulture department officials, the potato crop of Karnataka will hit the market in August. This may result in a sudden fall in the price of stored potatoes. Farmers in UP have been advised to sell their stored produce to avoid further losses, but few seem to be heeding it.District horticulture officer Anita Singh said, “The current potato prices are much lower compared to previous years. Besides, there is no significant scope for increase in potato prices in the near future. To avoid major losses, farmers should continue to sell their produce.”According to sources, increase in production of potato and a curb on export to Pakistan and some other neighboring countries are some of the reasons behind the drop in potato prices this year.District head of RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Mohan Singh Chahar, said, “The MSP determined by state government is highly unreasonable. It does not cover even half of the farmer’s total investment. We had demanded that the agriculture minister make it Rs 1,050 per quintal, besides putting an end to mandi tax and providing subsidy on preservation of potato in cold storages. None of these demands have been addressed in the annual budget, which is highly upsetting. Potato farmers here are in trouble and the government must provide them some relief.”

Stay updated with all the Agra Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.