The State Government has decided to maintain a buffer stock of four lakh quintals of potato this year to avoid a repeat of the situation last year when the refusal of the Mamata Banerjee Government of West Bengal to allow transport of the tuber led to a crisis in its supply lasting several weeks and saw the price of the essential vegetable skyrocket as high as Rs50 a kilo in Odisha.
The plan to maintain a buffer stock is part of the ‘Potato Buffer Scheme-2015’ announced by the Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Department on Monday. The scheme envisages procurement of potato from the State’s farmers in advance and its sale at the time of shortage between August and November. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has given his approval to scheme. While the annual consumption of potato in Odisha is 10.21 lakh tonnes, the buffer-stocked potato would be utilised only at the time of crisis.
According to departmental sources, both MARKFED and NAFED would procure potato from farmers from the current month till April at Rs 600 a quintal or at a price which is Rs 150 less than the wholesale rate in the Bhubaneswar market, whichever is higher. The wholesale procurement rate, to be revised every week, would be the average of the rates prevailing in the Bhubaneswar market from Monday to Friday.
As per the scheme, the MARKFED would be entrusted with procurement of 85,000 quintals of potato from farmers of seven districts in undivided Cuttack and Puri districts, which would be stored in four cold storages at Jagatpur, Nimapara, Bhubaneswar and Satsankha. In the remaining 23 districts, the NAFED would procure of 2.05 lakh quintals, which would be stored in 11 identified cold storages.
Out of the potato stocked in cold storages, 20 per cent each would be released to the markets in August and November while 30 per cent each would be released in September and October. The Government would form a corpus fund of Rs50 crore for the purpose, the sources said.