The potato farmers in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh are an unhappy lot. Their produce sold for over 900 rupees per quintal last year, but 2017 has brought wholesale prices crashing down by half.
As per the latest wholesale price index data for the country, compared to June last year, the prices of potatoes saw a staggering maximum deflation of 47.32% this June.
In the potato hub of Iglas in Aligarh, we meet 33-year-old farmer Saurabh Singh. He has a four-year-old daughter and a son aged seven. Singh took loans from banks as well as private moneylenders to be able to buy a tractor a couple of years ago. The downturn this year has prevented him from paying not just his loan installments but also his children’s school fees.
“First, there was demonetisation. Potatoes which sold at 800 rupees per quintal previously were not being bought for even 200 rupees after 8 November 2016. And now, the drastic fall in prices this year. I haven’t been able to pay a single installment of my loans since demonetisation. And the interest is accumulating, my debts are rising.”
Farmers complain that costs incurred on cultivating the crop are greater than the prices they are selling the potatoes at, leading to heavy losses and rising debts. Input costs have increased too. In Iglas for example, cold storage facilities hiked their fees this year from 242 rupees to 262 rupees per quintal.
Potato growers that The Quint spoke to in Uttar Pradesh are now accusing both central and state governments of neglecting them. At the root of the problem though, is neither poor growing conditions nor the lack of storage facilities. Instead, it’s quite the contrary.
Farmers are reaping the woes of a bumper harvest.
The Bane of Overproduction
In terms of potato produce, 2017 has been a good year. In terms of farmers’ fortunes, not so much. So why is a good harvest hurting those growing the crop?
For the crop year between July 2015 and June 2016, India’s potato production stood at 43.4 million tonnes. This year’s output though is estimated to have touched 47 million tonnes, just behind the all-time high witnessed in 2014.
The output in Uttar Pradesh, India’s top potato producing state, has been projected to increase to 15 million tonnes this year from 13.8 million tonnes last year.
Following the norms of demand and supply, the increased supply of potatoes has sent prices shooting down, to below even the costs of production.
At Tehra village in Aligarh’s Iglas, 41-year-old farmer Gajender Singh gives us a breakdown of his expenses.
First up, we have the costs of buying the seeds. Paying for pesticides and labour costs close to a hundred rupees per a hundred kilos. And finally, we have to pay 262 rupees to get a quintal of our potatoes inside the doors of a cold storage facility. Add it all up and our total expense on cultivating and storing one quintal of produce is roughly 450 rupees.
His neighbour and fellow potato farmer Bijender Singh quips, “We’re only getting as much or less when the wholesalers come to buy our stock. Because we are selling at anywhere between 350 and 450 rupees a quintal, we’re running into losses and going deeper in debt. We aren't getting our due. The government has to take measures to fix this. It is their responsibility.”
Where Does the Buck Stop?
In early April, the Yogi Adityanath government said it would buy 1 lakh metric tonnes of potatoes at a rate of Rs 487 per quintal. The move, to be implemented under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS), was to provide relief to hard-hit potato farmers. The cabinet assured the farmers that potato procurement would begin immediately.
But VM Singh, chief of the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sanghatan, says Yogi Adityanath is yet to walk the talk.
The gimmicks of the government have to stop. They need to intervene sincerely, and not just on paper. Potato farmers who are reeling in debt need protection from the state. The government must put in place a regulation that prevents anyone from purchasing potatoes at less than the state’s MIS price.
Singh says he speaks for the farmers when he demands that it be made illegal to buy potatoes at less than the MIS price. “Those who do so must be booked and FIRs lodged.”
The Modi government has been a failure as far as farmer politics is concerned. Neither the Centre nor the state is alleviating our condition.Bijender Singh, Potato Farmer
Forty-eight-year-old potato and bajra farmer Mukesh Kumar is resentful as well. “I voted for the BJP in the 2014 general election as well as this year’s state polls. But wait for 2019. I will not vote for the BJP. Despite us being in dire trouble, the government is doing nothing to help the farmers.”
The Debt Trap
The banks charge interest of up to 13%, but the private moneylenders exact their pound of flesh with rates as high as 28%, potato farmer Saurabh Singh tells us.
I haven’t been able to pay my kids’ school fees for the past several months. Thankfully, they haven’t been thrown out of school for that. But the private school keeps sending notices reminding us that the fees are due. What do we do?Saurabh Singh, Potato Farmer
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