Potato sellers and cold storage owners unhappy after Mamata questions supply of potatoes to outside States

West Bengal potato vendors and cold storage owners face losses due to restrictions on selling produce to neighboring states.

Potato vendors and cold storage owners in West Bengal are unhappy after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered restrictions in the last week of November 2024 on selling produce to neighbouring States. It has led losses for all the stakeholders, they claim.

Mr. Dilip Pratihar, secretary, Pragatishil Alu Byabsayee Samiti, said on Friday (January 3, 2025) that he feels whatever steps the Chief Minister is taking is only causing harm to the farmers and vendors like him. While speaking to The Hindu, he also added, “We still have so much aloo (potato) left in our cold storages, it is the season of new harvest, where will we keep them, and who will buy from us anymore if we cannot supply new produce?”

Mr. Pratihar spoke with a heavy heart and mentioned that in the next season of harvest, the poor potato farmers in the State are set to suffer due to the recent steps taken by Ms. Banerjee.

This comes as a reaction to Ms. Banerjee’s recent outburst during an administrative meeting at the Secretariat on Thursday over the supply of potatoes.

She slammed Ministers of Panchayat and Rural Development, Becharam Manna and Pradip Mazumdar, respectively, saying, “You have started to release potatoes. Why did you do that without asking me? People here are buying potatoes at a higher price and you will supply it elsewhere?”

To this the Ministers accepted the mistake and said that they stopped the trade when they found out.

Tarun Ghosh, a cold storage owner in the State, echoed the same concerns as of Mr. Pratihar. He said, “The potatoes we produced in the State are best suited for Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh. They are different type and do not have market in Kolkata or West Bengal. We have over 25 lakh to 35 lakh sacks of potatoes in our cold stores across Medinipur and Bankura region. Each packet has 50 kgs of potatoes. Who will buy this? And where will we store this year’s produce?”