“While the storage rate per metric tonne (mt) in adjacent state Bihar is Rs 2,400, here it is Rs 1,360 --much lower than any other state’s. As it is controlled by the government, we cannot change it. The government must reframe the rate,” said Patit Paban Dey, president of West Bengal Cold Storage Association.
West Bengal, the country’s second-largest potato producer, faces a problem every year when potato crop is harvested. The state has storage capacity of 70 lakh mt against a demand of over 100 lakh mt. Hence, arranging storage ticket, known as ‘bond’, becomes too difficult for farmers at many places. Bond is procured by paying partial storage fee in advance. The situation often forces farmers to leave their perishable crop in the fields. Sometimes, the market price crashes to bellow production cost before they can be sold.
“Storage space crunch is a chronic problem here. This season it has touched a critical level due to over production,” said Jiban Dam, a potato farmer. “The only solution is large-scale capacity augmentation.”
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But, “Initial investment for cold storage is around Rs 8,000 per mt capacity. After that, operational cost comes near Rs 1,250 per mt, per season. Plus cost of capital investment is there. Against all these, the government-controlled rental is Rs 1,360 per mt. This cannot attract new investment in the sector,” said Dey. “The government must rethink the matter and restructure the rate.”
Insiders in the trade, however, showed another side of the coin. “Acute shortage of storage compels farmers to sell stock at very low prices, giving opportunity to influential people, including many storage owners, to invest and make hefty profit when the price goes up. This beneficiary group never likes any capacity augmentation that can spoil the profit chain,” said a trader from Dhupguri in Jalpaiguri, a high potato yielding district. As a matter of fact, from policemen to school teachers, many influential people from all sections are commonly seen there with a bunch of cold-storage bonds in possession while ground-level farmers remain empty handed.
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