Potato production for the Indian farmer has only come forward as a crisis over the years. Looking deep into the matter, it’s not just a demand and supply problem due to over-production. Rather, there’s a lot that’s being expected from the government as an amendment to its existing policies.
Let’s discuss where the problem lies-
- The Center had announced Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) in December 2014 to cover perishable agricultural produce and horticultural commodities which otherwise were not covered under the Minimum Support Price (MSP). However, the scheme remained in the writing only and ground implementation is rather far as of now.
- Not just MIS, similar other schemes like ‘Bhavantar Bharpai Yojna’ launched in 2018 by Haryana government and Price Stabilization fund by Punjab government, are facing the same fate too. Problem- the farmers often get stuck at procedural bureaucratic hurdles like online forms and verification of land records.
- Apart from this, the falling prices in mandis accentuate the farmers’ distress.
- The very promising GST and Demonetization by the government have over the time only added stress in the potato market. Ultimately the supply chain has been adversely affected.
Throughout 2017, a deflated trend of wholesale potato prices was observed due to demonetization rupturing cash supply. Understanding this is simple, as wholesale mandis rarely accept digitized payments and depend mostly or better say solely on cash.
GST as well has added a hurdle and has only made storage of potatoes and vegetables a big deal as costs of storing have gone up. The increased cost is passed on eventually to the farmer in the form of higher prices for storage by the agencies managing these cold storage and warehouses. This affects the supply and adds to the vexations of farmers by directly adding to the cost of production.
Government again and again implementing MEP (Minimum Export Price) on potatoes is another story and has not helped farmers in any way.
There's for sure a lot more to this list. The need for the hour is strategic intervention by the government. All eyes remain glued to what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to offer in the Interim Budget tomorrow. ‘Ache Din’ can only be brought for potato farmers of India, if government looks deep into the matter.
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