The State Government would launch a ‘State Potato Mission’ taking the help of the professionals to chalk out strategy and scale up production of the fourth most important food crop within next three years, announced Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday.
Minister of Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Sanjay Dasburma and Minister of Agriculture Pradeep Maharathy were present at the meeting.The Chief Minister, while receiving the Taskforce report on potato from Agriculture & Cooperation Principal Secretary Rajesh Verma, asked officials to chart out a comprehensive implementation programme. Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Secretary and a member of the Taskforce Madhu Sudan Padhi, was present.
Though potato is one of the major vegetable crops grown in the State over 15,000 hectares of land with an annual production of about 2.5 lakh tones, the per-hectare productivity is 16.48 tonnes against the national average of 22.8 tonnes.And the State annually requires 10.21 lakh tonnes at present as per a National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO’ survey. So, the State is importing potato from West Bengal. Due to circumstances which the State administration fails to control, consumers are facing tough time with retail prices reaching up to Rs40-50 per kg.
To achieve self-sufficiency in potato production, storage and distribution in next three years, the State Government constituted the Taskforce, which has set a target for expansion of potato cultivation in 60,000 hectares of land in three years to achieve a targeted production of 11.25 lakh tonnes by 2017-18.A three-pronged strategy has been chalked out: Incentive to farmers, focus on seed supply and to provide cold storage facilities to farmers, which is now lacking. The total financial implications for the proposal would be Rs544.32 crore over the next three years. However, the expenditure on electricity tariff has been proposed to continue for six years. Thus, there would be a requirement of Rs583.58 crore over nine years ending 2023-24, said sources.
Fifty per cent of the project cost would be from the State Plan and the rest would be met by converging various Central plans and Central schemes, said an official. In order to face any difficult situation, the Government would maintain a buffer stock of four lakh tonnes of potato, said the sources.