CHANDIGARH (Reuters) - The recent cold wave and frost in Punjab may slash its potato output in 2007/08 by 27 percent to 950,000 tonnes, a senior official said on Wednesday.
“Frost has damaged nearly 30-35 percent of potato crop in Punjab, which is likely to cause a fall in production by 350,000 tonnes,” Dr Baldev Singh, the state director of horticulture department, told Reuters.
The department had earlier expected output to touch 1.3 million tonnes.
Most of the state was reeling under a severe cold wave and in some pockets temperature was recorded below freezing level, Agriculture Meteorology Division said in its daily report.
Very low temperature hinders vegetative growth and sometimes destroys plants completely.
Punjab is a major producer of potato and had cultivated tuber crop on 75,000 hectares this year.
India produced 27 million tonnes potatoes in 2006/07, data from the National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation showed.
