Bhubaneswar, Aug 11: Chief Minister Mohan Majhi on Sunday appealed to his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee to to normalise potato supply to Odisha.
Majhi informed that the supply was streamlined following their meeting in Delhi.
However, Odisha has been encountering potato crisis again for the last few days, leading to price rise of the staple product.
The crisis is attributed to the disruption of supply from West Bengal upon which the state is over dependent for potato requirement.
As the neighbouring state is halting the supply to meet local demand, the prices of potatoes reached a new high at Rs 50 to 60 a kg in the retail market in Odisha.
“The state is passing through an acute shortage of potatoes. I requested Banerjee earlier in Delhi during the NITI Aaayog meeting. She extended cooperation and the price was stabilized. However prices have again risen. So, I requested her to pay attention to this and take steps to solve the problem. She promised to take appropriate steps in this direction”, CM Majhi said in a statement.
To normalise the situation, the state government even imported potatoes from Uttar Pradesh resulting in the fall in price. However, it was temprary solution.
The plan to import tuber from Punjab was also contemplated. But that has been put on hold as procuring the root vegetable from far off northern state may not be cost effective.
Meanwhile, the government has decided to procure potatoes from Uttar Pradesh through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED).
Odisha requires at least 12 lakh tons of potato per annum. But it produces 22.82% of potatoes required in the state to meet consumers’ needs.
