Farm prices of Plain Potato will rule between Rs 450 to 550 per qt during January to March 2013

Potato is grown in more than 150 countries in the world with a production of around 324.42 million tons during the year 2010. The top ten producers in the world are China, Russia, India, USA, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Belarus, France and Netherlands. These together contribute about 70% of the total production. China ranks first while Russia and India ranks second and third respectively. India contributes approximately 7.5 percent of the world’s total production. The yield rate per hectare in India is quite low that stands at 19.92 tons per hectare as compared to the productivity in the European countries that ranges between 30-40 tons per hectare. Potato is most widely grown vegetable crop in the country with a share of 25.7 per cent. The area under potato cultivation was 1.99 Million ha with total production of 36.57 MT in 2010. Major potato growing states are Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Punjab and Karnataka which together account for about 86% of India’s production. As far as Uttarakhand is concerned, very less area is grown under potato in the plains during normal season however the potato is arriving in the markets from adjoining areas of Uttar Pradesh.NAIP Project “Establishing and Networking of Market Intelligence Centers in India” is going on at G.B.P.U.A. & T. Pantnagar. The main objective of this project is to release price forecasts of selected agricultural commodities before sowing and during harvesting. Project team of Pantnagar center had conducted market survey of Haldwani regulated market, a major market for Plain Potato in the Uttarakhand, and analyzed the wholesale price data prevailed for the last twenty -two years. The econometric analysis indicated that the wholesale prices of Plain potato in Haldwani market would be ruling in the range of Rs. 450 to 550 per qt in the month of January 2013 to March 2013. However the traders of the market revealed that the prices would be ruling in range of Rs. 350 to 600 per qt during these months. Based on above results the wholesale prices of the plain potato are expected to prevail between Rs 450 to 550 per qt during January to March 2013. Hence the farmers are advised to take marketing and storage decisions of plain potato according to price forecasted.The traders of Krishi Utpadan Mandi Samittee, Haldwani had reported that Uttarakhand is not self  sufficient in meeting the demand of  potato for the state and thus they have to procure the plain potato from other markets like Farukhabad, Shambhal, Ujhani, Baduon & Agra markets of U.P. and Hoshirpur & Jalandhar markets of Punjab. The sowing of Plain Potato starts from mid September and ends till November. The harvesting of the crop starts from mid December and lasts up to March.  The arrival of newly harvested crops starts from mid December and ends till April. Thereafter the arrival of plain potato comes from the cold stores. According to the trader’s survey January, February and March are the peak arrival months and June, July and August are the lean arrival months of the plain potato in the Haldwani market.