Kolkata: The price of potatoes that have begun to inch can see a sharp increase in the coming days after lack of fertilizers who have seen input costs up substantially and the latest rain that has flooded potato fields and damages the plants to stand, leaving farmers looking at the weight of the loss.
Nearly 55% of potato sowing finished when the rain arrived.
In the retail market, potato prices have jumped from Rs 16 Kg to Rs 20 kg in just three days.
Rates are expected to increase various kinds of deep crises.
Last year, potato prices have passed Rs 40 per kg and there are concerns that are widespread that 2022 can see further increases.
The time before time will also delay the potato farm cycle for several weeks.
“There is a lack of fertilizer mop fertilizer (Muriate of Potash) and DAP (diammonium phosphate).
We hold a meeting with the center.
The Minister of Agriculture Union has convinced us about the fertilizer supply on December 14,” said Pradip Mazumdar, Agri’s advisor to the government.
He admitted that farmers were forced to pay double the MRP for each bag of fertilizer.
“The Department of Enforcement and District Authority is conducting a raid to prevent stockpiling.
In fact, in some places we force traders to return extra money to customers,” he said.
BAPI Ali, a farmer in Hooghly, needed 20 bags (each with a weight of 50kg) fertilizer for potato agriculture on the land of two and half a bigha.
But he managed to do only three bags.
Now, after sowing the seeds in more than half of the land, he stood up to lose weight because the field was flooded.
Agricultural leaders and MLA Ramendu Singha Roy properly blamed the fertilizer center and the increase in potato prices while acknowledging that farmers in Bengal also developed fertilizer tendencies that were too often used.
“We must reduce this for dependence on fertilizer,” he said.
Raju Bhakat, fertilizer dealers for Hooghly, Burdwan and Bankura, said, “Previously, fertilizers used to be supplied through IFFCO.
The last supply fertilizer through Agri Cooperative Bank and after harvest, farmers pay fertilizer fees through these banks.
But now many players are now supply fertilizer but the quantity remains inadequate.
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