Potato Price Shoots Up In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Even as onions continued to bring tears to eyes of people of Odisha, they were in for another jolt with the price of potato suddenly skyrocketing on Thursday.

Potato, which was sold at Rs 17-Rs 18 a kg in the open market in the state, has gone up to Rs 25 in the last two days.

In Bhubaneswar, potato is being sold in the wholesale market at Aiginia at Rs 19 a kg.

Though there is enough stock of potato to meet the daily requirement of 300 quintals in Bhubaneswar, the Odisha Byabasayee Mahasangh has said that the price of this essential commodity has gone up across the state due to the ongoing strike in West Bengal, delay in the harvest of the crop due to unseasonal rain and rising demand of the vegetable in Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam.

Briefing the media here on Thursday, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain said that due to the ongoing violence over the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), there is a law and order situation in about 50 per cent areas of the country. As a result, the transport of these two essential commodities has been severely affected.

He, however, hoped that the price of these essential commodities will come down after the situation becomes normal.