The Hooghly district administration has directed a seed supplier to compensate farmers who faced a fresh crisis after producing odd-shaped potatoes resembling ginger or clay dolls in Arambagh.

On Monday, a high-level meeting was held in the office of Arambagh subdivisional officer Ravi Kumar. Approximately 10 affected farmers, senior agriculture department officials and local MP Mitali Bag attended the meeting to finalise compensation for the distressed farmers whose produce could not be sold in open markets.

The trader who had purchased the seeds from a Punjab-based company and sold the same to the farmers at Malaypur was also present at the meeting.

“In the meeting, it was decided that the seed supplier would have to compensate all the farmers since faulty seeds were responsible for the production of odd-shaped potatoes,” said Bag, the Arambagh MP of the Trinamool Congress.

A mountain of potatoes became a major concern for numerous farmers at Malaypur as none was willing to purchase the unusual-looking tubers produced on nearly 150 bighas of land.

Following complaints from farmers, the agriculture department decided to assess the total area of affected potato production and convened a meeting to discuss how the farmers could be compensated.

“The officials at the meeting asked the seed seller to communicate with the Punjab firm and ensure the purchase of all the odd-shaped potatoes at the current government rate within a week. If the process is not completed within the timeframe, the SDO said a police complaint would be lodged against the seed supplier,” said Asit Sarkar, a farmer who produced the potato on 12 bighas.

The current government rate for potatoes in the wholesale market is ₹900 per quintal.

Sources said if the seed supplier was unable to purchase the produce, he would have to pay an equal amount as the compensation to the farmers.

Arambagh SDO Ravi Kumar did not respond to calls from this newspaper.

Senior agriculture department officials claimed that the issue arose because the farmers had purchased seeds from an unauthorised seller. They emphasised that farmers should buy seeds only from licenced vendors.

The department decided to launch a campaign in potato-producing areas urging farmers not to buy seeds from unauthorised sellers.

“Although the issue was confined to a small area, we had observed a similar problem in Tarakeswar last year. This happened because farmers were buying seeds from unauthorised sellers. We will launch a campaign requesting farmers to purchase seeds only from government-certified dealers,” said Madan Mohan Koley, the Hooghly zilla parishad functionary in charge of agriculture.

However, a source said it would be difficult for the seed seller to compensate the farmers or purchase unsellable potatoes unless the Punjab-based company that originally supplied the faulty seeds came forward to assist him.

Approximately 40 quintals of potatoes are produced per bigha of land. As the total affected area is 150 bighas, the compensation amount will be substantial.