Potato crisis: Rotten, sub-standard seeds hit Odisha's self-reliance aim

The potato crisis in Odisha continues despite calls for self-reliance by the state government as farmers across several districts have allegedly received rotten potato seeds. Further, districts that have received better quality shipments stare at risk of spoilage owing to a lack of cold storage options.

Sources reported that a majority of the stock of potato seeds stored at the Horticulture Department office in Malkangiri had rotten away with similar deterioration also being reported from various parts of Keonjhar district.

As such, the state’s plan to farm potatoes on its land is off to a rough start.

Towards the end of November, Odisha witnessed prices of the tuber skyrocketing amid blockage of shipments from neighbouring West Bengal, citing shortage and price control measures.

Subsequently, Odisha Food and Civil Supplies Minister declared that the state would not rely on West Bengal and instead procure potatoes from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, shipments of which arrived recently. Meanwhile, on December 11, Deputy CM KV Singh Deo announced Odisha's plan to farm potatoes on 15,023 hectares of land and become self-sufficient.

Farmers, however, alleged that the potato seeds procured by the state government are either rotten or of such poor quality that they cannot be cultivated for crops.

“I received a bag of seed potatoes from the Horticulture Department but found all of them to be rotten. Such potatoes are of no use,” alleged one farmer from Malkangiri who later returned the shipment.

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“Malkangiri had received about 300 quintals of potatoes including the Kufri Jyoti variety but many of them were rotten. We have filed a complaint and will send back the poor-quality shipment and procure better ones soon,” stated Mahendra Majhi, Assistant District Officer of the Malkangiri Horticulture Department.

Meanwhile, in some places like Bhanjanagar in Ganjam and Telkoi in Keonjhar, farmers have started cultivating potatoes after receiving seeds, with targets to cultivate potatoes across 180 hectares and 578 hectares of land, respectively.

“We have already planted potato seeds in about 5 hectares of land and hope to harvest about 300 to 400 quintals of potatoes out of the 60 quintals that we received from the government and subsequently planted,” said Maheswar Dehuri, a farmer from Telkoi.

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Similarly, in Malkangiri district, potato cultivation is planned over 450 hectares of land. However, concerns remain over its storage once they are produced. To address this, the government has reportedly planned to set up cold storage facilities in every subdivision.