Hooghly, 21 March (H.S.):

Potato farmers staged a protest outside a cold storage facility in Goghat area of West Bengal’s Hooghly district on Saturday, demanding storage for their produce, prompting deployment of police and central forces, officials said.

Farmers gathered with sacks of potatoes since morning at the facility in Hajipur and raised slogans, alleging that they were unable to secure storage amid a sharp fall in prices.

They claimed that last year traders could not send potatoes to other states, leading to losses, and this year too prices have crashed, worsening their situation.

The agitators demanded that arrangements be made to store their produce in local cold storages. The protest, which continued from Friday night, led to tension in the area, following which police personnel were deployed and later central forces were called in.

Police introduced a token system to manage the crowd and ease the situation, officials said.

Amid the ongoing poll season, opposition candidates have also started reaching out to farmers over the issue. The Arambagh subdivision, being an agrarian belt, has witnessed growing resentment due to low potato prices.

Following intervention by authorities, the cold storage management agreed to store up to 50 sacks of potatoes per farmer, with tokens being issued. Long queues of farmers were seen outside the facility to collect tokens.

Farmers, however, said production per bigha ranges between 80 and 90 sacks, and with an average farmer cultivating 4-5 bighas, the limited storage arrangement remains a concern.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey