Despite the bumper potato crop this season, farmers are forced to come out on the streets and protest against the policies of the state government. Displeased by the low price fixed by the government, the farmers in the region are demanding adequate price and storage facility for their produce. 

Farmers came out in protest against the government policy on potatoes on Friday.  Coming in tractor trolleys, farmers of Amarpur, Hasanpur,  Bhatipura, Rachauti, Paswara, Macchra and many other villages   arrived at the office of divisional commissioner in tractors laden with bags of potatoes. Throwing the potatoes at the gate of the office of the divisional commissioner here, they sat on a dharna, raising slogans.

Blaming the state government for not paying due attention to their problems, the farmers expressed their anguish during the protest. In spite of the bumper crop of potatoes, farmers are in deep trouble, quipped farmer Rajpal Singh.

 "The government has declared support price Rs.487 per quintal  to procure the produce of farmers, which is very less as the farmer spends about Rs 800-900 per quintal in its production," said Mehak Singh, farmers leader. Unfortunately, the purchase centers have also not been set up in spite of the orders of the government and the officials seem to be in slumber which has added to the problems of the farmers, he said. 

In fact, the farmers have been protesting at the district headquarter since Monday and trying to catch the attention of the officials to their problems. Almost every day the farmers are on the streets raising the issue as they are having no way out. They are facing acute storage problem because it is harvesting season of wheat crop and they can`t store it without disposing  their potato crop.
 
The farmers had  also given a memorandum in the commissioner`s office on Thursday  in search of a  resolve to the problems of potato farmers. "We will continue the agitation unless we get some respite for the government," Mithan Tyagi said, adding that the support price is already so less and the government is not purchasing small size potatoes than where should we throw them now. Most of the farmers complained that officials are not paying heed to their request to provide them storage facility of their crops because cold storage owners have refused to accept their produce. 

Earlier the farmers of Bulandshahar had also staged a similar protest under the banner of Bhartiya Kisan Union and thrown their potato crop on the main crossing of the city . They too had handed over a memorandum to the district magistrate to provide adequate price of their produce and proper storage facility.