UP to ship 'Taj' potato to SL

Lucknow, Mar 12: Uttar Pradesh (UP) State Agriculture Marketing Board has bagged order for export of 200 Metric Tonnes (MT) of 'Taj' brand potato from seven firms based in Sri Lanka.

Board director Rajneesh Dubey said here the whole consignment, packaged in NETLON bags in lots of 25 kgs, would be sent by the month end.

Only 'Kufri Bahar' variety of potato had been approved as per international standards. The potato would be sold at the rate of 230 US dollars per MT, which comes to Rs 25 per kg.

He said the board had also received encouraging response from Dubai, Malaysia and Mauritius.

''A leading Dubai business firm has placed orders for supply of 12.50 MT of potato as samples and if the samples qualify the local tastes, there will be huge potential for UP potato in UAE and larger West Asian market,'' he claimed.

''Our biggest market is Sri Lanka, followed by Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries in the Middle East,'' the director said, adding although Sri Lanka fetched low prices, it was a good market during the glut season at home.

Dubey said markets in Mauritius and Seychelles had good potential and the board would concentrate on these markets during the lean season in July. UP has annual surplus of 5 million MT of potato.

The board, in association with NAFED and the Agriculture Processed Food and Export Development Authority (APEDA), has drawn up plans for the export of 2,000 MT of potatoes from the current harvesting season. The board has also obtained the patent for this from the registrar of trade marks and patents, New Delhi.

The potato will be exported at Rs 600 per quintal and later it will be exported on negotiated prices during the lean season from July.

The board has also acquired land at Vashi near Mumbai for setting up a cold storage, and grading and sorting plant. The graded potato, with a minimum diameter of 55 mm will be exported in 25-kg NETLON packs. Maintaining product quality is biggest challenge for UP, the director said.

Seven quality control centers in major potato growing districts like Farrukhabad, Mainpuri, Kannauj, Etawah, Agra, Meerut and Hapur in Ghaziabad had been set up in UP.

The export of potato from India is around 22,000 MT annually, traded through Mumbai, Chennai and Tuticorin ports.

''For the first time, the board has undertaken direct export of potato without the involvement of export agents or middlemen. This will fetch a minimum price of Rs 500 per quintal during the lean season of February-March, when the ruling price in domestic market is Rs 200-300 per quintal,'' Dubey said.

For the first time, farmers would be directly involved in the export of their produce. The board has set up 'UP Potato Export Facilitation Society', where 21 farmers from the potato belt have been represented.

The society would also include the representative of the cold storage industry. The board had also organised training programme for potato growers at National Agriculture Marketing Institute, Jaipur.

On the patterns of Maharashtra, the Board would organise buyers-sellers meet at Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Dubai in July for exploring the export potential, where trained farmers would also participate.

UP accounts for close to 50 per cent of potato produced in India, followed by West Bengal.

By production standards, UP is the 12th largest potato producer at global level. In current season, production might be over 12 million, but UP has storing capacity of only 7.9 MT.

UNI