Acute Shortage Of Potato: Odisha Govt To Take Early Steps

Bhubaneswar: Aware that the price of the potato would skyrocket in the next 3-4 months in the country due to poor harvest this year, the Odisha government has decided to take pre-emptive measures to overcome the crisis in the state.

In a statement to a local news channel on Sunday, Food Supply and Consumer Welfare minister Surya Narayan Patro said the price of potato is most likely to go up by 30-40 per kg in the next 3-4 months due to poor harvesting of potato all over the country.

He said keeping this in view, the state government has decided to purchase potatoes worth Rs 50 crore from the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED). When the price of the potato will go up, the stock potato will be released in the market to regulate its price.

The minister said his department has issued a circular to the wholesalers about the volume of hoarding of potatoes.

While the wholesalers in Cuttack can keep a maximum of 500 quintals of potato, the wholesalers in Bhubaneswar, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Rourkela can keep a maximum of 300 quintals of potato in stock.

Besides, wholesalers in the remaining cities and towns of the state can keep a maximum of 150 quintals of potato in stock, the minister informed.