General Characteristics
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Potato is the world's fourth important food crop after
wheat, rice and maize owing to its great yield potential and high nutritive
value and accounts for nearly half of the worlds annual output of all root
and tuber crops. Thus, with an annual global production of about 300
million tonnes, potato is an economically important staple crop in both
developed and developing countries.
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Supply Demand Scenario
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- India is ranked 5th
in potato production after China, Russian Federation, Poland and
Ukraine. However, potato productivity in India is merely 16-19
tonnes/ha vis-à-vis that of European countries and USA, i.e 30-40
tonnes/ha.
- The potatoes in
India are cultivated under highly diversified agro-climatic conditions
ranging from sea level to snowline and up to three crops are raised
per year.
Summer crop- March- April---------------------August-September
Autumn crop- August-September---------------December- January
Spring crop- January - February-------------- May-June
- Potato is mainly
rabi crop and is grown mainly in UP, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal,
Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
- During 2004-05,
24.15million ton potato was produced in the country while production
figure for 2003-04 is 23.27 million ton. According to the ministry of
agriculture advance estimate potato production during 2005-06 will be
24.65 million tons.
- Average acreage
under potato varies between 12 to 15 lakh hectares depending on the
weather condition during sowing period.
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Monthly Price
Volatility
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Monthly Variation in Potato Prices (Jan.2000-June
2004)
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Volatility
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< 5
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5 - 10
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10 - 15
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> 15
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No. of times
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12.96
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14.81
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18.52
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55.70
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Major Trading Centres
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There are four-potato export zone in India viz. in UP,
Punjab, MP and West Bengal. The major potato markets in UP are Agra,
Hathras, Kanpur, Meerut, Farrukkhabad; Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Phul and
Patiala in Punjab; Ujjain, Indore and Dewas in MP and Hoogly, Burdwan and
Howrah in West Bengal
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Market Influencing Factors
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- Variations in potato
domestic acreage based on yield and price realization
- Crop development
based on weather progress in key growing regions particularly cold
wave and heavy rains during tuber formation
- Comparative price
with other vegetables in the domestic market,
- Upcountry demand of
potato from the major cities and food processing industries
- The potato price
tends to firm up during the planting period and eases down during the
harvesting period.
- Transportation
charges have also profound impact on prices
- Potato growers and
traders hoard the commodity before selling in expectation of better
prices. Potato can be kept in cold storages without spoilage for 5-6
months.
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