According to sources, as many as 6,000 truck loads of potatoes have been shifted from Hassan in the last three days of which, 3,500 have been sent to Bangalore, 1,500 to Mettupalayam, 1,000 to Chennai, Cochin and other places, while another 800 loads of potatoes are ready for dispatch. To add to this, more potatoes are expected to arrive from other places in North Karnataka.
The proportion of rotten potatoes are on the higher side in the new loads arriving from Punjab. Now sorting out the rotten potatoes, picking up the good ones and shifting them to other places has become a big nuisance. Now, the question is certainly not the profit, but disposing them off safely, opined the owner of a cold storage, where these potatoes had been stored.
Meanwhile, the selling of these rotten potatoes is not well received by the public. An Experts Committee has also submitted a report on this to the district administration, which is planning to ban the sale of such potatoes. But a section of traders have disclosed that they would sell them once the sowing is complete. Farmers have threatened to stage a protest. Taking all these into consideration, the owners of cold storage units feel that it is safe to shift it to other places.
High prices
The potato woes are not new for the farmers in Hassan and others in Northern part of the country, as the crop had been affected by blight disease. West Bengal, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and other places too suffered heavy loss resulting in production dropping by 50 per cent. The demand was more than the supply and the potatoes are sold at Rs 150 to Rs 200 per quintal. The potatoes, which are sold at moderate price, are sold at much higher price in the name of sowing seeds, but unfortunately nature willed otherwise.
Negligence
The harvested potatoes should be allowed to dry at least for a week before packing it, but the greedy traders packed the fresh stock, which is the reason for all these problems, opined some farmers. The traders had planned to shift the potatoes directly to the cold storage, but they had to wait for three days to transport it by train and then four more days in wagons before it reached Hassan. Around 80 per cent of the potatoes is said to be affected.