Shortage of cold-storage space hurts West Bengal's potato farmers

SILIGURI: West Bengal, India’s second-largest grower of potatoes, is suffering from a shortage of cold-storage space, with poor state-set rentals preventing fresh capacity additions for storing the staple vegetable crop.

“While the storage rate per tonne in adjacent Bihar is Rs 2,400, here it is Rs 1,360 only, and is much lower than in any other state,” said Patit Paban Dey, President of West Bengal Cold Storage Association. “As the rate is controlled by the state government, we cannot change it. The government must re-set the rate.”

West Bengal has an annual potato yield of about 11.5 million tonnes, against a storage capacity of only about 7 million tonnes. Hence, arranging storage tickets, known as ‘bonds,’ has become difficult for farmers at many places. The bond is needed to be to be procured by paying partial storage fee in advance. Eventually, many farmers left their perishable tuber harvest in the fields under open skies, while market prices crashed levels below the cost of farming.

“Storage-space crunch is a chronic problem here. This season, it has touched a critical level,” said Jiban Dam, a potato farmer.

Agriculture officials agreed that the only solution is to significantly increase capacities.

“The initial investment for cold storage is around Rs 8,000 per tonne of capacity. On top of that, operational cost comes about Rs 1,250 per tonne each season. Against all these, the controlled rental of Rs 1,360 per tonne cannot attract new investment in the sector,” said Dey. “The government must rethink and restructure the rental,” he added.

Insiders in the potato trade, however, pointed to potential profiteering. “Acute shortage of storage space compels farmers to sell stock at very low rates, giving the opportunity to influential people, including many storage owners, to invest and make hefty profit when the prices go up,” said a trader from Dhupguri in Jalpaiguri, a high potato-yielding district. “This beneficiary group never likes any capacity augmentation that can spoil the profit chain.”
Incidentally, many influential or politically connected people, including policemen or school teachers, are commonly seen with a bunch of cold storage ‘bonds’ that are actually meant for farmers, who often do not have the bonds to store their produce.