CHANDIGARH: Potatoes from Punjab are turning globetrotters. While last year the state supplied these tubers to Russia, this time, growers are eyeing Europe as a market. A three-member European Union (EU) food and veterinary office audit team is touring Punjab to examine whether state’s potato crop is pest-free.
As part of that, the team met principal secretary (agriculture and Markfed). Director (horticulture) Lajwinder Singh Brar told TOI, “Punjab government had written to Centre about its desire to export potatoes, which the state has in surplus. The government had written to EU and now this team is here.”
The potatoes were tested in laboratories of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and Central Potato Research Institute, Jalandhar. The team also checked packing centres, cold storage facilities and seed farms in the state and export arrangements at Attari border.
Punjab produces 21 lakh tonnes of potatoes on 80,000 hectares. The state has claimed it is pest-free when it comes to tuber crops. It has been seeking market access to EU for past five years.
It had claimed that the potatoes here did not have the diseases known as brown rot and ring rot. “Climate here is such that pests, especially these two (which are prohibited by EU) are not present,” said Brar.
Europe is the world’s largest importer and exporter of potatoes. “We have 4-5 lakh tonnes of surplus potato produce. Farmers are not able to get good prices for the crop and our export experience with Russia has been encouraging,” said Brar.
Around 10,000 tonnes of potatoes were exported to Russia last year from Punjab. A recent bumper crop had led to low prices being offered for potatoes. That had led to protests from farmers who dumped the produce on roads as a mark of protest in December.
The EU team’s report, which will be routed through Centre, is expected to help ascertain if Punjabi farmers get to see their produce on European dining tables.
News Source: Times of India
