West Bengal’s potato ban leaves Jharkhand and Odisha in soup

Potato, perhaps the country’s most politically volatile crop along with onion and tomato, has triggered an inter-state row between West Bengal and its two neighbours.

West Bengal’s decision to stop the supply of the versatile vegetable to other states to regulate prices in local markets has pushed up its cost in Odisha and Jharkhand, turning Bengal into a villain in the eyes of its two neighbours.

Anger in Jharkhand, Odisha

The embargo became a political hot potato in Odisha. In Jharkhand, it has fuelled public protests against West Bengal. Peeved residents of Jharkhand villages bordering West Bengal’s Purulia district stopped several trucks carrying other vegetables from entering their state for hours on Friday.

No vegetable from Bengal would be allowed to cross the border until the supply of the potatoes was restored, the protestors insisted.

Other vegetables halted

Around 10 mini-trucks laden with tomatoes, cauliflowers, cabbage, brinjals and other seasonal vegetables were stopped from crossing the West Bengal border.

The protest was sparked after the West Bengal Police allegedly seized bags full of potatoes some Jharkhand residents were taking back home after buying them from bordering markets in West Bengal.

Ever since the ban was imposed late last month, pushing the tuber price to Rs 60 per kg in retail markets, residents of Jharkhand’s Galudih, Dumkakocha, Narsinghpur and other villages along the border had been sourcing potatoes from nearby markets in West Bengal, a protestor told the media.

Potatoes confiscated by police

The West Bengal Police at Bandwan checkpost allegedly started confiscating potatoes on Friday evening.

Villagers of Sani village in West Bengal imposed a retaliatory blockade preventing vehicles from Jharkhand entering their territory. The blockades were lifted after the police from both the states intervened.

But unless the prices cool down in the local markets, the most widely consumed non-cereal staple food in India will continue to be a bone of contention between Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Odisha’s ire at Bengal

After facing flak from the opposition over the potato crisis, the Odisha government went to the extent of claiming that the embargo was part of a conspiracy hatched by the West Bengal government.

Food supplies and consumer welfare minister of Odisha Krushna Chandra Patra accused the Trinamool Congress dispensation of creating the artificial scarcity to tarnish the reputation of his state’s BJP-led government.

“Artificial scarcity was created to bring disrepute to the Odisha government. The West Bengal chief minister (Mamata Banerjee) recently stopped supply of potatoes to Odisha, before agreeing to resume shipments… I don’t understand why they (TMC govt) are doing this,” Patra was quoted as saying by the PTI on Thursday.

Bengal’s counter volley

West Bengal agricultural marketing minister Becharam Manna hit back, telling The Federal that the Odisha minister should better know that it’s the Modi government that had been trying to put a spanner on the Mamata Banerjee government by withholding funds for centrally-sponsored welfare schemes.

He further alleged that the Union government had helped some traders from West Bengal to supply potatoes to Bangladesh in violation of the export ban in November, keeping the state government in the dark.

“Our first priority is to meet our local demand. Unfortunately, production was lower this year due to the impact of Cyclone Dana. Our production of 58.84 lakh tonnes this year is 4.5 lakh tonnes less than the 2023 production,” Manna said.

Bengal’s potato needs

At present the state has a stock of 6.2 lakh tonne, which is adequate only to meet the daily consumption requirement for 40-45 days, by which time the new crop is expected to reach the market from fields.

West Bengal’s everyday requirement of potatoes is around 18,000 tonne. Kolkata alone consumes around 5,000 tonne. The consumption drops to 15,000 tonnes in December when plenty of green vegetables hit the markets.

The minister said if the current stock was not maintained, the prices would skyrocket in the state.

Traders disagree with government

Currently, the retail price of one kilogram of potato in Kolkata is Rs 35-40.

Potato traders, however, see the state government’s move as a knee-jerk reaction. “We don’t understand why the state government is so apprehensive. We can easily tranship around 2 to 2.5 lakh tonnes of potatoes to other states. The stock of around 4 lakh tonnes would be enough to meet the state’s requirements. But we have failed to convince the state government about our viewpoint,” said Lalu Mukherjee, the secretary of the Progressive Potato Traders Association.

Potato, hot potato

Clearly, the state government does not want to take any risk knowing well the humble potato’s political potency.

Volatile prices of potatoes, onions and tomatoes often drive food inflation in India.

West Bengal is the country’s second largest potato producer after Uttar Pradesh with a share of 23.51 per cent in India’s total output.