Hundreds of Punjab-region potato growers in India have dumped hundreds of truckloads of potatoes on main highways, irked over indifference by the state and federal government toward their over-production problem.
The government has not given growers the Minimum Support Price they need of Rs 2 ($0.043 per kg. However Markfed, a government-buying agency, will try to buy up 200,000 bags of potatoes.
Markfed will tap Nafed, the buying and marketing agency of the Federal government, which may also purchase 200,000 bags.
The problem of overproduction is cyclic in nature. Every three or four years it re-surfaces giving credence to the general believe that a grower who suffers an economic blow due to potato failure or excess can recover only with yet another potato crop.