New Delhi: Kushal Pal, a potato farmer from Agra’s Khandauli, adjusts his Gandhi topi, which bears the legend, aalu utpadak (potato producer), the garland of potatoes around his neck and finally settles down for a chat, on a sack of potatoes. Pal is one of the farmers who travelled all the way from Agra, carrying 10 bags (each bag weighs 50 kg) of potatoes with them to participate in the Kisan Mukti Yatra, organized by a coalition of 150 farmer unions, which culminated in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Wednesday.
Apart from the larger issues, Pal and scores of other potato farmers are here to protest against the steep fall in potato prices following overproduction this year.
“What you are seeing right now is a culmination of months of hardship. It all actually started with demonetisation. Till then potatoes were fetching anywhere between Rs500 and Rs600 per packet. Our sales evaporated overnight. Farmers had to take loans for the next year’s harvest and now there is hardly any sale. Potato prices have plummeted between Rs3 and Rs4 per kilo. It’s a huge blow to the farmer,” said Pal, a politically savvy farmer with firm views on the rights of the kisan and what the government should do about them. His yield this year was more than 888 bags out of which he has sold only 300. “I have spent Rs15 lakh on this year’s crop. I have earned back just Rs2 lakh,” said Bhagirath, another potato farmer from Khandauli who along with Pal has made the trek to Delhi. Read more
Apart from the larger issues, Pal and scores of other potato farmers are here to protest against the steep fall in potato prices following overproduction this year.
“What you are seeing right now is a culmination of months of hardship. It all actually started with demonetisation. Till then potatoes were fetching anywhere between Rs500 and Rs600 per packet. Our sales evaporated overnight. Farmers had to take loans for the next year’s harvest and now there is hardly any sale. Potato prices have plummeted between Rs3 and Rs4 per kilo. It’s a huge blow to the farmer,” said Pal, a politically savvy farmer with firm views on the rights of the kisan and what the government should do about them. His yield this year was more than 888 bags out of which he has sold only 300. “I have spent Rs15 lakh on this year’s crop. I have earned back just Rs2 lakh,” said Bhagirath, another potato farmer from Khandauli who along with Pal has made the trek to Delhi. Read more