Centre’s potato procurement price is just half of input cost, allege farmers’ bodies

A time aft the Union Agriculture Ministry announced the procurement of 20 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of potatoes astatine the complaint of ₹6.5 per kg (₹6,500.9 per metric tonne) from Uttar Pradesh, wherever the prices person fallen owed to assorted factors, including unseasonal rains, farmers connected Sunday (April 19, 2026) said that the magnitude is little than fractional of their input cost. Welcoming the determination to procure astir 10% of the full murphy accumulation successful the State, the farmers, however, said the Centre should procure potatoes for astatine slightest ₹12 per kg.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) person Rakesh Tikait had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi successful the archetypal week of March, highlighting the plight of murphy farmers. Mr. Tikait had said successful the missive that the Centre should denote astatine slightest ₹1,500 per quintal (₹15 per kg) arsenic enactment terms for potatoes. He had besides demanded that industries for worth summation and processing beryllium promoted successful the murphy loop of the State.