Odisha To Bring Potatoes In Trains From Uttar Pradesh: Food Supplies Minister

Bhubaneswar: To tide over the ongoing potato crisis, the Mohan Majhi government has decided to bring the essential tuber to Odisha via train from Uttar Pradesh.

“Efforts are on to bring potato consignments in two trains and the matter is being discussed with Railway Minister,” Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra told reporters on Sunday.

Disruption in supply from West Bengal, which banned movement of the tuber to control local prices in mid-July, led to a dip in stocks while pushing the prices up across the border. Though Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and former CM Naveen Patnaik have appealed to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to open up supplies, their pleas have so far fallen on deaf ears.

To reduce its reliance on West Bengal, the government decided to import potatoes from Uttar Pradesh as an alternative source and increased procurement as the crisis continued. Traders from the state, however, had refused to purchase it from Uttar Pradesh stating that people don’t like the variety available in the northern state.

Though the state earlier imported potatoes from UP, its dependence on West Bengal increased over the years as the distance and wastage was less, according to Odisha Byabasayi Mahasangha general secretary Sudhakar Panda.