I have a question particularly for those from the potato growing belt.
Has cold storage facility resulted in an increase in retail price of the humble potato, reduced quality as large traders keep pushing garbage quality stock to urban areas.
Who are the big players in the potato supply chain who continue shafting the poor consumer with high prices and horrible quality? I remember buying potato between Rs. 7-10 in 2010-11. Prices have continued to rise since, touching almost Rs. 60 this year.
How do we know the same model won't be applied to food grains, cereals, lentils once MSP procurement falls, all in the name of seasonal adjustment? Some of us can absorb a Rs. 3-5k hit to our monthly bills but what about the vulnerable sections?
We saw the great 'arhar dal' surge in 2015 where a handful of media reports doubled the price of 'arhar dal' overnight and Govt. simply wrung its palms in helplessness while people paid as much as Rs. 180-200/kilo.
How would keeping potatoes in cold storage increase retail prices.???? Potato is a perishable commodity. If the cold storage facility is absent, there will be over supply in short term, when freash harvest is available, but high prices when the supply dries up. So by keeping cold storage produce is available round the year, till the next crop comes, thus providing consistent supply. Now there is a cost involved in renting out the cold storage and some percentage of storage loss. The trader who purchased stock, paid for coldstorage, bore risk of loss of future, bore storage losses and then sold stocks in market. So he deserves some money in return. He shld not be held responsible for the price hike, simply accusing him of hoarding when he didnt.
Second. This arhar dal price hike was indeed due to large scale hoarding by few companies, whose names can be found in media articles. But that time Modi Govt was newly appointed and they did not have backup. The surge incident shook the Govt inside out, and Modi himself intervened to develop a buffer stock called National Buffer. The capcity of National buffer has been progressively increased and Modi govt made sure the 2015 surge did not happen again.