Image for representational purposes only. | Photo credit: PTI
The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Monday (March 23, 2026) claimed that potato farming in Uttar Pradesh has entered a structural crisis, with production costs far exceeding current mandi prices, while without fixing the economics of storage and price risk sharing, potato farming in western UP will remain structurally unviable and turn a productive rural crop into a recurring crop.
“Production cost of landing in western UP (Kannauj belt) has risen to over ₹1,000 per quintal (₹500 per 50 kg), market prices are clearing at around ₹800 per quintal, leaving farmers with a gross loss of around ₹200 per quintal before factoring in the prevailing storage and marketing costs. (₹340-380/qt) pushes the total cost of supply to 1 340-1, ₹ 380/qt, which is far above the realizable MRP prices of urea is limited to ₹ 242 per 45 kg bag through subsidy, but ground reports suggest that availability at this rate is almost nil, forcing higher M. RP prices at DAP from ₹ 1,200 to ₹ 1,350 per bag and more intensive use of NPK is increasing expenditure per acre,” said Ram Pratap Singh, spokesperson Samajwadi Party (SP) and added that similar loss stories are echoed in the Firozabad-Agra belt where there is high input intensity and reliance on leased storage.
Mr Singh said farmers’ unions were protesting against “arbitrary” cold storage rates and calling for timely reforms in public procurement and input subsidies.
Nasser Salim, SP spokesman said: “Cost inflation, storage rents, meaning input cost inflation (seed, labour, fertiliser, energy) combined with sharp, poorly regulated cold storage charges have turned storage from a stabilizer to a loss multiplier. Policy asymmetry because unlike cereals, potatoes lack an MSP or price shortage line, forcing farmers to absorb the economic price while forcing them to store and store the economic risks. Sharing the price risk, potato cultivation in western UP will remain structurally unviable and turn a productive cash crop into a recurring trigger of rural woes.”
Published – 24 March 2026 03:34 IST
