THE POTATO MARKET

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 118, 21 May 1945, Page 4

THE POTATO MARKET

lITAR has made such demands on our local potato supplies that we have become inured to occasional shortages, but nobody likes them and they add considerably to the cost of living by the higher prices which must be paid for such vegetable substitutes as are available. The suggestion that the Internal Marketing Division will take over the marketing of the crop in the coming season is not reassuring; the division v has done much to equalise distribution of various products, but the experience has been either that the public has , had to pay more for the foodstuffs which it has handled, or that growers have been discouraged. They have in most cases maintained their supplies as a patriotic gesture, but expanding do not tend to make them more hopeful or more inclined to extend their operations. The grain and produce merchants who have handled supplies throughout the Dominion have a knowledge and an understanding of the methods of distribution and of the seasonal requirements of the various districts, the product of years, and which cannot' be duplicated by State officials in a matter of months. They, have worked with the Department in the difficult war years, and the growers have had confidence in their integrity and methods, with the result that in view of the large shipments overseas, local supplies have been fairly well maintained and distributed. They now protest against the Marketing Division assuming complete control, fearing that it will result in a diminution of supplies because farmers will be disinclined to tflant. Before so radical a change is put into operation their protest should be thoroughly inquired into, and the new system should not be tried unless it can be demonstrated that it will increase the quantity available for the home market without raising the price.