Potato farmers of Pipili, Delang and Kanas blocks in Puri district staged an agitation at the Uttarayani Cooperative Cold Store at Satsankh demanding space for their produce at the cold store. Farmers alleged discrimination by cold store authorities in keeping potato at the cold store. “We are not even getting a proper reply from the officials at the cold store. Huge quantities of potato have started to rot after lying under the sun for days,” said a potato farmer of Pipili.
The Government had encouraged farmers in these blocks to undertake potato farming in view of the potato crisis faced by the State last year. Hoping for a good earning, farmers in these areas had cultivated potato in more land this season and have harvested a bumper crop. Interestingly, Pipili is the home constituency of Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy. On the other hand, cold store authorities have expressed inability to receive 5,000 bags a day against its capacity of handling only 2, 500 bags in a day.