New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) on Wednesday sought the urgent intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over crashing farmgate prices of potato, which the farmers’ body claims has pushed millions of growers toward financial trouble.

The farmers’ body threatened to launch a countrywide indefinite agitation to pressure the government over the escalating crisis faced by potato farmers if its demands are not conceded.

IANS had reported that the distress of potato farmers in West Bengal has escalated into a political confrontation ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled for April 23 and 29.

The matter has triggered a sharp exchange between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in Bengal, while parties such as the Left and the Congress have remained relatively muted.

“With farm-gate prices crashing to as low as Rs 3 per kg in some states against an input cost of Rs 15-18 per kg, millions of potato farmers across 10 states are facing destruction,” the AIKS, a Communist Party of India-affiliated farmers’ body, said in a statement.

The affected states include Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Assam, Haryana, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

“The government’s current procurement price of Rs 6.5 per kg covers less than half the actual input cost of Rs 12 per kg,” the statement added. The AIKS has demanded that a statutory minimum support price (MSP) for potatoes be fixed at Rs 27 per kg, along with “full compensation” for farmers’ losses and a complete waiver of agricultural loans.

The farmers’ union has put forward a charter of demands, including the declaration of a statutory Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 27 per kg for potatoes and a legally guaranteed MSP framework on par with cereals. Further demands include a 70 per cent subsidy on cold storage rentals for small farmers, direct procurement through cooperatives to eliminate middlemen, and a complete waiver of all agricultural loans.

Among other demands, the farmers’ body has sought an ex gratia payment of Rs 25 lakh to families of farmers who died by suicide under distress, and immediate interim relief of Rs 50,000 per acre for affected growers in the 10 states. In its memorandum, the AIKS warned of a “nationwide indefinite agitation” if these demands are not met.

It has asked its units to mobilise protests, including demonstrations and road blockades at the block and district levels. The organisation also warned that “farmers will protest and resist the tours of Union Ministers in the potato producing belts”.

Farmer suicides have been linked to a combination of factors, including bumper output, a steep fall in prices, mounting debt, and inadequate institutional support. Ongoing instability in West Asia and other regions has also affected export demand.

In states such as West Bengal, policies restricting or banning the movement of potatoes to other states during price spikes have further disrupted supply chains.

The Bengal BJP has highlighted cases of farmer suicides allegedly linked to debt, claiming that at least five growers have died since February after failing to recover production costs. The party has accused the Trinamool Congress government of neglecting the crisis faced by potato farmers.

–IANS

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