Growth performance and behaviour of arrivals and prices of potato in major markets of Karnataka

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is the fourth most important food crop in the world and consumed by over one billion people in the world and half of them are in developing countries. The total value of the potato crop was $3.74 billion (NASS 2017). It is the staple food in Europe and North America and almost a vegetable in rest of the world including India. Present paper attempted to analyze the seasonality and growth performance of arrivals and price of potato in selected markets of Karnataka. The data relating to monthly arrivals and prices was collected from major markets of Karnataka viz. Bangalore, Belgaum and Hubballi based on the highest arrivals for the period from 2008 to 2017. The compound annual growth rate of arrivals and prices of potato from 2008–2017 in different markets were estimated and showed positive growth rate in all markets. Among the selected markets higher growth rate was observed in Hubballi market for both arrivals (12.85%) and for prices (5.08%). In Bangalore and Hubballi markets the negative relation was observed between prices and arrivals and higher prices were seen in the months of August, November and December similarly high arrivals were seen in the months of June to December. In order to minimize price risk and to protect the farming community under the respective state governments should take regulatory measures to stabilize the prices as far as possible and long term polices should be adopted to maintain price stability throughout the year.