Kolkata, March 10 -- The state government has set up storage infrastructure and started buying potatoes directly from farmers under the Sufal Bangla initiative to prevent spoilage and ensure fair prices amid a bumper harvest.
Recently, some farmers in Goghat, Hooghly - a major potato-producing district in Bengal - held protests demanding better prices, even pouring potatoes on the roads.
The state has already announced the Potato Procurement Scheme 2026 and is purchasing potatoes directly from farmers at Rs 9.50 per kg. The government plans to procure 120 lakh metric tonnes of potatoes.
"After purchase, the potatoes will be distributed through Sufal Bangla stalls and markets, allowing consumers to buy them at affordable prices," said a senior official from the state Agricultural Marketing department. Cold storages in the state have a capacity of 82 lakh metric tonnes, of which only 12 per cent has been filled so far, leaving ample space for storage. Thirty per cent of the storage capacity has been reserved for small and marginal farmers.
The stored potatoes will also be used for mid-day meal schemes in schools and other welfare projects of the state government.
In Bengal, around 120 lakh metric tonnes of potatoes are usually cultivated on about 5,000 hectares of land.
This year, production is expected to rise to about 170 lakh metric tonnes.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.