Bhubaneswar: After onions, potatoes are now burning holes in the pockets of the consumers across the state. The price of the tuber has almost tripled in the space of a week thanks to supply constraints from the southern states and the neighbouring West Bengal.
In the first week of October, a kilo of the potatoes was sold around Rs 20 - 25 in most parts of the state, but in November first week the price of this most important kitchen staple has skyrocketed to Rs 40-45 per kilo.
“During the off-season there is usually a slight hike in price. But this year, rainfall in the southern states affected the crop yield and supplies were hit. Prices of the vegetable will remain elevated till the end of November," a shopkeeper of Koraput district said.
"There is a shortage in the supply of potatoes from West Bengal due to inclement climatic conditions like heavy rainfall. The festive season of Dussehra also added to the price rise," rued another shopkeeper.
After weeks of onion price crisis, the hike in the potato price has now left consumers in a state of worry as the vegetable is the most important ingredient of the kitchen recipes. It is being seen that most of the consumers are now buying less amount of potatoes because of the excessive price.
"The rising prices of potatoes are a major cause of worry during the pandemic as so many of us have suffered from job losses and health issues. In this difficult time of recovery, we are finding it hard to afford the simplest of vegetables like potato which is very disheartening," a customer said.
"We have no control over the weather. But the government should keep a vigil on the hoarders as black marketing is one of the major causes of price rise. Besides government should set up adequate cold storage facilities to keep the price rise in check, which is happening almost every year," another customer lamented.
(Edited by Suryakant Jena)