State may import 7.8l tonne potato this yr

Odisha is likely to import nearly 7.84 lakh tonnes of potato from West Bengal and other States to meet its requirement during this year. It is evident from the fact that the State is expecting to produce only 2.37 lakh tonnes of potato during the current year against its yearly requirement of 10.21 lakh tonnes.

“Potato cultivation has been undertaken in total 15,809 hectares of land in the State during the current year. It is expected that 2.37 lakh tonnes of potato would be produced,” Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy informed the State Assembly in a written reply to a question by Bhujabal Majhi.

Replying to another question by Krushna Chandra Sagaria, the Minister informed that the State needs 10.21 lakh tonnes of potato every year while production remains at 2.5 lakh tonnes. But the State produces more onion than the requirement. The State is currently producing 4.32 lakh tonnes of onion against its need of 3 lakh tonnes. However, the State still imports onion to meet its total requirement due to lack of preservation of its produce, he said.

Informing that a total of 22,500 tonnes of potato seed is required for undertaking cultivation in 15,000 hectares of land and 358 tonnes of onion seed for 35,805 hectares, the Minister said the Directorate of Horticulture imports potato seed from Punjab, Uttarakhand and West Bengal and onion seed from Maharashtra through various supply agencies and provides them to farmers. The State has targeted to undertake potato cultivation in a total of 30,000 hectares of land during 2015. He further informed that 24 out of 111 cold storages are operational in the State.