Tripura targets potato self-reliance by 2030 with record yields and global partnership

Tripura has set an ambitious goal of becoming fully self-reliant in potato and potato seed production by 2030, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Ratan Lal Nath announced on September 12.

The state government has signed an agreement with the Peru-based International Potato Centre (CIP) to boost cultivation, introduce advanced technologies, and establish a chips processing centre. The deal follows a high-level meeting with CIP Director General Simon Heck and Country Manager Niroj Sharma in Agartala.

Currently, 23,746 farmers cultivate potato across 7,622 hectares in Tripura. Until recently, yields averaged 19.16 MT per hectare, with farmers dependent on seeds sourced locally or from outside states like West Bengal and Punjab, often with no quality assurance.

“Earlier, we experimented with True Potato Seeds (TPS), but the process was costly, labour-intensive, and yielded limited impact,” Nath said.

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That changed with the introduction of the Epical Rooted Cutting (ERC) method in 2022-23, funded with ₹5 crore under the Rashtriya Krishi Bima Yojana (RKBY). Under this technique, just 104 farmers were supported in 2023, 402 in 2024, and now 4,000 farmers are set to benefit.

The results have been unprecedented. “Tripura has achieved a per-hectare yield of 62.5 MT—the highest ever, compared to the earlier average of 19.16 MT. Even Simon Heck said he has never seen such potato production anywhere,” Nath told reporters.

Last year, the state produced 1.46 lakh MT of potatoes against a requirement of 1.55 lakh MT. With the new technology push, Tripura plans to achieve self-sufficiency in potato seeds by 2028-29 and full self-reliance in production by 2029-30.

“Once we achieve self-reliance, our next step will be to export potatoes. This will not only guarantee food security for Tripura but also open new economic opportunities,” Nath added.