The West Bengal government has directed all the cold storage owners in the state to reserve 30 per cent of the space at their respective facilities for the marginal farmers. The marginal farmers will be able to store a maximum quantity of 30 quintals of potato, which approximately, will count to 70 sacks. Space will be allotted on a \”first come, first serve\” basis. If the reserve spaces remain unoccupied after that specified period then only the owners can rent out that place to others. The state government had to take this decision for the sake of the interest of themarginal farmers, an official from the state secretariat, Nabanna said. The decision was taken following complaints that often marginal farmers willing to avail of cold storage facilities are unable to avail. of it since the spaces of the coldstorage have already been reserved by the large farmers, he added. The West Bengal Progressive Potato Traders’ Association said the state government, at the same time, should also consider purchasing 30 per per cent. of the total potato produced directly from the farmers.
The West Bengal government has directed all the cold storage….
