The government has decided to procure 10 lakh metric tons of potato to protect the interest of the farmers, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, state agriculture minister, said in the Assembly.

Mr Chattopadhyay said chief minister Mamata Banerjee had held a meeting where it was decided that the state government would procure 10 lakh metric tons of potato from the farmers at Rs 6.50 as minimum procurement price.

XHe said the farmers were selling potatoes of Chandramukhi and Jyoti varieties at Rs 10 per kg and Rs 8 per kg.

“We are not going to allow farmers to go for distress sale. The interests of farmers have been protected. The state government has paid the insurance premium of the farmers worth Rs 300 crore.”

Mr Chattopadhyay said the farmers were facing a major problem after the prices of pesticides and other chemicals went up following a decision by the centre.

Earlier, the potato growers used to procure them at Rs 2,530 per bigha and now they have to pay Rs 3,689 per bigha. The additional burden has affected farmers badly which ultimately affected the production, he maintained.

Pradip Mazumdar, state minister for panchayat and rural development said, “A section of unscrupulous businessmen had procured potatoes from Uttar Pradesh and other states and kept them in the godown. They thought that some natural calamity might take place and in that case the farmers would be forced to go for distress sale. Their malafide intention has been proved wrong,” he said.

He said in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab the farmers were forced to sell potatoes for Rs 4.50/ kg and Rs 4.75 per kg.

At the Assembly’s extended Budget session on Monday, there were protests by BJP legislators over the plight of potato farmers.

The BJP legislators, led by the Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, walked out of the House and staged protests within the Assembly premises carrying posters and potatoes.

“The potato farmers in the state are being forced to go for the distress sale of potatoes and in the process, they are suffering huge losses. We raised the matter on the floor of the house on Monday. But we did not get a satisfactory reply. “The state government should pay the minimum support price for potatoes that it has announced. The state government should take the responsibility of replaying the short-term farm loan received by the potato farmers on this count. The farmers should not be denied the proper price for their products,” Adhikari said while leading the protests.