Now, rains send potato prices soaring

Sirhind : Sporadic rains have halted the harvesting of potato crop. Shortage of potato in the market has led to an increase in its price to almost double, from Rs 250 per quintal, now potatoes are being sold at a price of Rs 400 per quintal. Farmers had begun harvesting the early sown varieties of potatoes in mid-December. This harvesting will continue till end of February. However,the rains have halted potato harvesting. Potatoes are harvested using tractors, which do not move in waterlogged fields. “As potatoe supply in markets has stopped, its prices are likely to increase in the next few days. Farmers, who have already harvested their crop, are making profits by selling it at an increased price of Rs 400 or more for every 100 kilogram,” said farmer, Jaspal Singh from Rajpura. Manjit Singh, a potato grower from Fatehgarh Sahib said he had deployed labourers to drain out water from fields so the potato crop could be saved. “Potatoes will perish and may become disease-prone if water is not drained out of the fields,” he said. Farmers are praying for the rains to stop. Increased rainfall will spell havoc for potato growers and damage the recently sown wheat crop. “Rain has been useful in lifting thick blanket of fog, which is good for wheat, potato, and other crops and vegetables”, said Ripudaman, another farmer at Amloh. Potato growers said the crops got respite from tella (aphid infestation) after the rain. Rainwater has washed away tella that attack potatoes when temperature decreases in fog. While Fatehgarh Sahib recorded a maximum rainfall of 28 mm, Bassi Pathania block recorded 15 mm, Amloh and Khamano recorded 12 mm each. Department officials said area under potato cultivation in Fatehgarh Sahib was 5100 hectare and horticulture department gave four-quintal different medicines, on subsidy, to farmers to get rid of fungal disease attack on potatoes. Agriculture department officer, Jaswinder Singh said rain, during these days were good for wheat, vegetables and sugarcane but water should not accumulate for longer in the fields. Water logging tends to invite diseases, which harms the crop.