General
Characteristics
Potato is the world's fourth important food crop after wheat,
rice and maize owing to its great yield potential and high nutritive
value and accounts for nearly half of the worlds annual output
of all root and tuber crops. Thus, with an annual global production
of about 300 million tonnes, potato is an economically important
staple crop in both developed and developing countries.
Supply Demand Scenario
- India is ranked 5th in potato production
after China, Russian Federation, Poland and Ukraine. However,
potato productivity in India is merely 16-19 tonnes/ha vis-à-vis
that of European countries and USA, i.e 30-40 tonnes/ha.
- The potatoes in India are cultivated
under highly diversified agro-climatic conditions ranging
from sea level to snowline and up to three crops are raised
per year.
Summer crop- March- April---------------------August-September
Autumn crop- August-September---------------December- January
Spring crop- January - February-------------- May-June
- Potato is mainly rabi crop and is grown
mainly in UP, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh,
Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
- During 2004-05, 24.15million ton potato
was produced in the country while production figure for
2003-04 is 23.27 million ton. According to the ministry
of agriculture advance estimate potato production during
2005-06 will be 24.65 million tons.
- Average acreage under potato varies
between 12 to 15 lakh hectares depending on the weather
condition during sowing period.
Monthly Price Volatility
Monthly Variation in Potato Prices (Jan.2000-June
2004)
| Volatility |
<
5 |
5 - 10 |
10 - 15 |
>
15 |
| No.
of times |
12.96 |
14.81 |
18.52 |
55.70 |
Major Trading Centres
There are four-potato export zone in India
viz. in UP, Punjab, MP and West Bengal. The major potato markets
in UP are Agra, Hathras, Kanpur, Meerut, Farrukkhabad; Jalandhar,
Ludhiana, Phul and Patiala in Punjab; Ujjain, Indore and Dewas
in MP and Hoogly, Burdwan and Howrah in West Bengal
Market Influencing Factors
- Variations in potato domestic acreage
based on yield and price realization
- Crop development based on weather progress
in key growing regions particularly cold wave and heavy
rains during tuber formation
- Comparative price with other vegetables
in the domestic market,
- Upcountry demand of potato from the major
cities and food processing industries
- The potato price tends to firm up during
the planting period and eases down during the harvesting
period.
- Transportation charges have also profound
impact on prices
- Potato growers and traders hoard the
commodity before selling in expectation of better prices.
Potato can be kept in cold storages without spoilage for
5-6 months.
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