Wholesale potato traders in Mettupalayam are seeing 50 % or lesser arrivals, as demand has reduced.
According to Zakir Hussain, a wholesale potato dealer, nearly 2,000 families in Mettupalayam are dependent on the potato business. The traders, wholesale and retail, get supplies from Gujarat, the Nilgiris, and local farmers. “We used to get about 100 lorry loads a day, with each lorry carrying 500 bags of potato. Now, just 20 to 30 lorry loads come every day,” he says.
According to Mr. Hussain, supply to Kerala was disrupted completed when the lockdown started and it is yet to pick up. Similarly, the local weekly retail markets held in and around Coimbatore district are shut. This has affected sales and the traders do not want to procure large quantities. Arrivals from Gujarat and the Nilgiris are down nearly 50 %.
The wholesale potato market has been functioning in Mettupalayam for the last one week, and private mandis are now closed down. But the sales are yet to pick up, traders say.