OKARA: The wholesale rate of a 120 kilogramme potato bag is from Rs4,500 to Rs5,000 in city’s fruit and vegetable market while retailers are selling it at Rs60 per kg.

Growers say the prices are higher a bit to save them from losses as this year per acre yield of the potato was about 40 to 45pc less from the last year.

A lengthy frost spell in the winter and small farmers’ inability to cultivate the crop because of their losses in the last three years led to cut in the potato production this year, said potato grower Dr Afzaal Haider.

He told Dawn that traders had stopped potato exports because of low profits. He said the Indian government offered a good price to potato growers and subsidised it for the public.

He said the growers had suffered losses in the last three years of the PPP government, while the PML-N government had failed to bring about any change in policies.

Market commission agent Chaudhry Maqsood Jatt told Dawn it seemed the government wanted to address the shortage of commodities through more imports from India. In case of potatoes, he said, imports from India would not resolve the issue as the prices of potato were higher in India.

He said under-invoiced potato imports had caused losses to the national kitty. For example, he said, at the start of the current potato season, India signed export contracts with Dubai companies at $500 per ton and $350 per ton with a beverage company in Pakistan.

He said now India was supplying potatoes at $240 per ton to some Pakistani importers just to damage Pakistani potato market.

Dr Haider said if the government was interested in saving the potato farming, it must subsidise the crop for the poor public.