From Europe to India, potatoes farmers were visibly disappointed due to the sharp fall in prices, forcing them to throw potatoes on the road.
SNPNEWS.IN News (Gurmail Kamboj): Farmers from India to Europe are worried about getting less than the cost of their crops. Recently, India’s major potato producing states of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana have had a bumper crop of potato, due to which the price (wholesale price) of potatoes is getting very low.
A potato farmer from Punjab (which is famous for being a major producer of potato seeds across India) described the potato crop as a loss-making business and said that for the last 2-3 years, the potato crop was barely covering the expenses incurred on the crop, let alone the hope of covering the expenses from this year’s crop, there is a loss of Rs 15-20 thousand per acre.
Potato price per 100 kg in different countries :
● Belgium: 1.68 euros (very low).
● France: 2.23 euros.
● Germany: 2.91 euros.
● Netherlands: 3.15 euros.
● India: 3-4 euros.
● Ukraine: Prices are continuously falling, farmers are selling stocks quickly because sub-standard potatoes have increased and demand is low.
The income from potatoes crop is 20-25% less than the cost. Due to which the smile has disappeared from the faces of farmers. Recently, potato farmers protested in front of the SDM office of Samrala by throwing potatoes on the road due to the extremely low price of the crop. In a similar demonstration, on January 10, a Belgian farmer dumped potatoes on the historic market square (Grand Place – Grote Markt) of Brussels.
Read it: UK: Farmers’ Tractor March (protests) on London Streets
The police arrested the farmer after the demonstration but later released him with a plea bargain. People helped him by raising funds worth over 25,000 euros.
Before that, there was a major demonstration in December 2025 (on December 18), where farmers with thousands of tractors arrived in Brussels. They dumped hundreds tons of potatoes on the streets, threw potatoes at the police and violence also escalated in some parts. The police used tear gas and water cannons. After the Hundreds tons of potatoes were dumped on the streets, causing traffic to come to a complete standstill and piles of potatoes in the city center.
The farmers were protesting against the European Union’s agricultural policies, rising production costs, low crop prices and especially the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. This agreement is made to facilitate trade with South American countries, which may cause European farmers to compete with cheap imports (agricultural products) and threaten their standards.