Enhanced Production, 58 Cold Storages To End Potato Crisis In Odisha: Deputy CM

Bhubaneswar: Odisha government would set up 58 cold storages and enhance potato production capacity in the state to control tuber price, the state Assembly was informed on Wednesday.

Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo stated this while replying to a question by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLAs Ashwini Patra and Ganeswar Behera.

Singh Deo, who holds Agriculture portfolio, said the much-hyped Potato Mission of the previous regime failed miserably in the state. That has encouraged the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal to play petty politics in supplying potato to Odisha, he said.

To counter such a situation, Odisha government is mulling alternative farming diversification and improves potato production capacity of the state. To store tuber, 58 cold storages would be set up, which will run on electricity and solar power, he stated.

The Deputy CM further blamed the BJD for closure of many cold storages in Odisha. He added the cold storage centres were not shut down for dearth of electricity as claimed. In fact, an economic group, which was entrusted to run the cold storages, mortgaged them paving way for their untimely closure, Singh Deo claimed.