Fewer takers for potato Take potatoes, of which cold stores across India have stocked only an estimated 36 crore bags (of 50 kg each) from the main rabi (winter-spring) crop harvested in February- March. This was as against 48 crore in 2019, 46 crore in 2018 and the record 57 crore bags of the 2017 post-demonetisation crop. "Production this time has been much lower, which should have translated into far better prices than last year. But the lockdown has upset our calculations," said Karamveer Jurel from Khandauli village in Etmadpur tehsil of Uttar Pradesh's Agra district. This farmer has harvested 28,000 bags from 120 acres, 20 of his own and the balance leased land. Like many growers, he has deposited the bulk Of his produce in cold stores for making staggered sales from April to December. Till early-April, when the lockdown's impact was still to kick in, mota aloo or regular large potato was selling from Agra's cold storage units at around Rs 21 per kg. But it is now fetching Rs 18 and Jurel expects rates to drop by another Rs 4-5/kg towards mid- June. "Nikasi (offtake) is down. Hardly 500 trucks (each carrying 400-odd bags) are being loaded daily from Agra zone (which includes Aligarh, Mathura, Hathras, Etah, Firozabad and Etawah districts), compared to the normal 800," Jurel noted.