India: Punjab to export potatoes to Russia and Middle East; eyeing Europe and the Americas also

Four months after farmers dumped potatoes on roads in some parts of the state, seeking remunerative price for the produce, the Punjab government has allowed the export of potatoes to Russia and the Middle East. The past few years have witnessed surplus production of potatoes in the state. This glut in production and no buyers due to demonetisation over the past two seaons had led to a crash in prices.  The price crash is a cyclical occurence in the state, but demonetisation had aggaravated the crisis. “If the government fails to intervene to help potato growers, Doaba farmers will be the worst-hit,” Jalandhar Potato Growers Association (JPGA) general secretary Jaswinder Singh Sangha had recently said. After the decision, he said, “We hope for export to Europe and the Americas to start soon as well.” More