Potato strike called-off in Bengal, will the prices come down?

The indefinite strike by potato traders in West Bengal was called off on Wednesday, and the tuber will be available in markets from July 25, Agriculture Marketing Minister Becharam Manna said. The strike called to protest against alleged harassment by the state government and local administrations in exporting the tuber to other states, was on since July 21.

To mitigate the strike's impact, the West Bengal government has earlier in the day decided to engage self-help groups (SHGs) to sell potatoes at affordable prices. This measure, however, might not be implemented rigorously once the supply normalizes since the strike was called off.

Cold storage and traders have assured the government to supply potatoes at Rs 26 per kg at the cold storage level. This should help the price come down to close to Rs 30 per kg for the non-premium Jyoti variety.

Notably, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had recently directed officials to take steps to control the prices of vegetables, including potatoes. Task forces formed by the state government have been conducting raids in markets to prevent hoarding. Strike spiked potato prices further at retail markets ranging between Rs 40 and Rs 45 per kilogram.