Calcutta, Nov. 6: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee today took charge of the agricultural marketing department to tackle the potato crisis and declared: “Hoy espar, noy ospar (we will resolve this any which way).

Market operators said that the thrust was expected to unlock stocks — which might ensure better availability of the scarce tuber and pull down prices that now rule between Rs 22 and Rs 25 a kilo. The chief minister has pegged the ideal price at Rs 13 a kilo.

But questions arose on whether the government’s strong-arm tactics could throw up a long-term solution to structural deficiencies exposed by the potato crisis.

“No one wants to antagonise the government…. Prices are bound to crash to Rs 13 a kg,” said a veteran in the trade. “But there are a few questions…. Did the government do the right thing by intervening in the market? Can they employ the same strategy every time there is a price rise?” he asked, adding that the prices would soar again.

The price of the Jyoti variety of potato was hovering around Rs 10 before the Pujas. It crossed Rs 15 during the festive season and steadily climbed up.

The government then intervened. Arup Roy, the minister who was handling the agricultural marketing department till this afternoon, imposed a ceiling of Rs 14 a kg on October 24. The artificial ceiling caved in soon and Mamata stepped in with the Rs 13 limit and a ban on moving the produce to other states.

The intervention appeared to have backfired in the immediate aftermath. “Rattled by the price control, traders pushed up the volume of exports to neighbouring states where the wholesale prices had soared by over 100 per cent and touched Rs 22 to Rs 25 a kg,” said another potato trader.

Supplies from Bengal, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh have been meeting the potato diet in Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh for decades.

But the demand for potato from Bengal was higher this year because of shortages in Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh and high demand from Odisha and Andhra Pradesh because of natural calamities.

“The high export demand and the non-arrival of new crop from Punjab created supply bottlenecks and the prices moved up in line with the demand-supply principle,” said a trader.

If at all the government should have intervened, it should have done so much earlier — and not on the price front.

Careful monitoring and analysis of data would have given the government an inkling of the upcoming shortage. Steps then could have been taken to release old stock from the cold storage units — something Mamata is hoping to achieve now through the threat of coercion, trade insiders said.

“Had they tracked the weather situation in the country and its impact on potato demand and supply, they could have taken precautionary measures, either by co-ordinating with the Uttar Pradesh government or by buying stocks from the cold storage system in Bengal in advance,” said an analyst.

Mamata today hinted that the government might buy potato from cold storage units — a practice former finance minister Asim Dasgupta had started.

But meeting the target may be easier said than done. An agricultural marketing department officer said that as a considerable part of the stored crop is owned by middlemen who buy the receipts (bonds) of farmers after they deposit the potato, tracing the bond holder could be difficult.

Allowing the market forces to operate — higher price would have lured more potato supplies to the markets — could have helped pull down the prices, said the officer.

“But they went about trying to regulate the market by pegging prices…. Whenever the government tries to tamper with the market, it adds fuel to the fire and that’s exactly what happened in Bengal and the crop vanished from the market,” he said.

Coercion is also hard to enforce. The government has said the borders have been sealed to stop exports but such curbs usually throw open a window of corruption through which materials flow. There have been reports that truckloads of potato from Bengal have been reaching neighbouring states.

There was no attempt to address the deficiencies plaguing the sector, said a retired government official.

“The new government’s priority should have been to frame an agricultural policy, which the Left neglected for 34 years as the agriculture department was always with minor partners like Forward Bloc. Neighbouring states like Bihar have a detailed policy and a roadmap on how to achieve higher growth,” said the officer.

Mamata today tried to address one of the problems in the potato trade — the need to import seeds from Punjab — by promising to develop seeds in the state and distribute imported potato seeds through fair-price outlets.

“Developing potato seeds is a good idea, which the Left government should have tried long ago…. But as the government doesn’t have the mechanism to handle and maintain potato seeds, I am not sure how they can distribute seeds through fair-price outlets,” said an analyst.

According to him, the other deficiency in potato trade is lack of proper cold storage facilities because of the Left policy the Trinamul government is also following.

Out of the over 600 cold storage units in the state, only 410-odd are operational at present. Almost all run on old technology that pushes up storage cost.

“The Centre doesn’t release funds for cold storage modernisation as long as the state government determines the cold storage rent. Ours is the only state which has such a rent policy,” said a cold storage owner.

He added that the wastage of the crop, ranging between 5 and 10 lakh tonnes a year, could be reduced if the storage units were modernised.

What’s frying the pan?

Is Bengal a potato-deficit state?

No. Bengal is usually a potato-surplus state, unless natural calamities hit the output. Bankura, West Midnapore, Burdwan, Hooghly, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar account for most of the potatoes

How does the potato reach you?

Farmers keep the produce in cold storage and get receipts (known as bonds). As the farmers cannot wait till wholesalers pick up the stocks, middlemen buy the bonds from the farmers. Depending on the demand within and outside the state, the middlemen get the potato from the cold storage and sell them to wholesalers who supply the retailers

What is special about this time of the year?

The planting season starts in November, a part of the produce cold storage units till November 30, by when the old stocks have to be cleared to make room for the fresh lot. Consumers who prefer the new crop or notun aloo have a choice this time of the year. The new crop from Punjab and western UP flows to Bengal between October first week and end-December or early January till the local new variety hit the market. Bengal also depends on these two states for potato seeds

So, what’s the problem?

Unseasonal rain. The supplies from Punjab, which also feed Bihar, Assam, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, did not reach Bengal this year because of rain-induced crop failure. Before Bengal could tap the other source, western UP, Delhi, which traditionally meets its potato requirement from Punjab, carted away the stocks. At the same time, Bengal’s old stocks found renewed demand as other states that used to depend on Punjab and western UP tapped the eastern state. Export from Bengal to other states resulted in a dip in supply in local markets and prices went up

And then?

The Bengal government hammered in the last nail. The government pegged retail prices at Rs14 and then at Rs13 a kg. This created a fear psychosis among traders who diverted higher volumes to other states where a kilo was fetching as much as Rs 24 in the wholesale market