Market
6 January 2026
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Source:Assam Tribune/Team Potato Bazaar
Assam Potato Farmers Dump Produce on Highway Over Price Crash and Exploitation
Assam Potato Farmers Dump Produce on Highway Over Price Crash and Exploitation
Sadiya Potato Farmers Dump Produce on Highway Over ₹60 vs ₹7 Price Crash and Exploitation
Sadiya, Assam: In a striking display of desperation, hundreds of potato farmers in the Sadiya region of Tinsukia district dumped quintals of their fresh harvest onto the 8 Mile national highway on Monday. The symbolic protest, involving 7–8 tractor-loads of produce, highlights a severe market failure where local growers face financial ruin due to predatory trading practices.
The Price Paradox: Costs vs. Returns
The primary grievance involves an unsustainable gap between production expenses and market returns. According to The Assam Tribune, agitating farmers reported that seed potatoes cost as much as ₹60 per kg during the sowing season. However, they are now being forced to sell their harvest to middlemen for just ₹6 to ₹7 per kg.
Farmers expressed outrage that these intermediaries then sell the same produce in open markets for ₹12 to ₹14 per kg, effectively pocketing double the price in profit while the actual producers fail to recover even their basic cultivation and labor costs.
Market Influx and Infrastructure Gaps
The crisis is further exacerbated by the massive influx of potatoes from other states, which local farmers say has crashed prices for Sadiya’s high-quality crop.
Despite Sadiya being one of Assam's largest potato hubs, it suffers from a total lack of:
Cold Storage: Forcing farmers into "distress sales" to avoid the rot of perishable stock.
Direct Market Linkages: Leaving cultivators at the mercy of business syndicates.
A Call for Government Intervention
The three-hour blockade, which caused significant traffic disruptions, ended after a memorandum was submitted to the local administration. The farmers—many of whom are young entrepreneurs burdened by bank loans—have demanded the immediate establishment of a dedicated farmers' market in Tinsukia and a guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) to protect the region's rural economy from collapse.
Sadiya, Assam: In a striking display of desperation, hundreds of potato farmers in the Sadiya region of Tinsukia district dumped quintals of their fresh harvest onto the 8 Mile national highway on Monday. The symbolic protest, involving 7–8 tractor-loads of produce, highlights a severe market failure where local growers face financial ruin due to predatory trading practices.
The Price Paradox: Costs vs. Returns
The primary grievance involves an unsustainable gap between production expenses and market returns. According to The Assam Tribune, agitating farmers reported that seed potatoes cost as much as ₹60 per kg during the sowing season. However, they are now being forced to sell their harvest to middlemen for just ₹6 to ₹7 per kg.
Farmers expressed outrage that these intermediaries then sell the same produce in open markets for ₹12 to ₹14 per kg, effectively pocketing double the price in profit while the actual producers fail to recover even their basic cultivation and labor costs.
Market Influx and Infrastructure Gaps
The crisis is further exacerbated by the massive influx of potatoes from other states, which local farmers say has crashed prices for Sadiya’s high-quality crop.
Despite Sadiya being one of Assam's largest potato hubs, it suffers from a total lack of:
Cold Storage: Forcing farmers into "distress sales" to avoid the rot of perishable stock.
Direct Market Linkages: Leaving cultivators at the mercy of business syndicates.
A Call for Government Intervention
The three-hour blockade, which caused significant traffic disruptions, ended after a memorandum was submitted to the local administration. The farmers—many of whom are young entrepreneurs burdened by bank loans—have demanded the immediate establishment of a dedicated farmers' market in Tinsukia and a guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) to protect the region's rural economy from collapse.
#AssamAgrarianCrisis#FarmersRightsPotato prices