Potato Prices In Bengal Set To Rise As Traders Threaten Strike

Kolkata: The price of potatoes, which is already high in the retail markets of West Bengal, might rise further in the coming week following the decision of the traders association to go for a strike if the ongoing impasse over the state government’s ban on the export of these vegetables to other states is not resolved.

The prices of two popular varieties of potatoes namely “Jyoti” and “Chandramukhi” are substantially high in the retail market with the rates ranging between Rs35 and Rs42 a kilogram.

This is the second time within little over three months that the potato traders in the state united under the Progressive Potato Traders’ Association have convened a strike.

The last time they observed the striker was in August this year. An association officer-bearer has claimed that even after the price of potatoes in retail markets has started stabilizing slowly, the state government has enforced a ban on exports of this vegetable to states like Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, which are heavily dependent on supply from West Bengal.

“The ban has been imposed without issuing a formal notification in the matter. The police are stopping trucks full of potatoes at the state borders and booking the traders.