Potato
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Indian potato production has plateau at 26 lakh MT in the last few years after having seen tremendous growth since late 1970s. While current demand is being met, the future prospect seems bleak especially with respect to the surge in the demand of processing potatoes. The challenge is not only to increase the average productivity of the potato to the world average of 40 MT per acre from current 20 MT but also to promote efficient post-harvest management practices including, efficient cold storages, faster transport logistics, market linkages for assured and timely sales by the producers.
While the consumption of processed potato products is anticipated to increase, at present, the processing sector is largely comprised of various kinds of dehydrated potato products, starch etc. Potato can be processed into mouth-watering value-added fried and non-fried food products having longer shelf-life. The market for such processed products is currently booming in India. The demand for potato chips, French fries, flakes etc. is increasing day by day. To meet the burgeoning demand, potato processing is emerging as a fast growing industry with increasing more entrepreneurship. The existing potato traders are increasing the capacity of their processing units.
Constraints faced by small & marginal farmers: • Potato cultivation needs high investment and majority of the farmers are unable to follow the standard package and practices • No crop insurance available for Potato • Seed comprises around 30-50% of cost. Local seed production is limited. Quality (TL) seed is not available in market. Individual farmers are forced to pay higher input cost and also sometimes get spurious fertilizers and pesticides.
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