This month (May), the widely consumed vegetable is being sold at around Tk8.0 per kilogramme, down sharply from Tk18 during the same period last year.
"We're being forced to sell potato at throwaway prices as it starts rotting just a few months after harvest," said Gazi Anowar Ali, a trader at Mahasthan Haat. "There's a massive oversupply in the market."
Some varieties of potato, such as the locally known 'stick', are selling for as low as Tk5.0 to Tk 5.5 per kilogramme-far below the average production cost of Tk14 per kg, according to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Bogura.
The price slump is not limited to Mahasthan Haat. At other major potato hubs in the district, including Kitchak Haat and Mokamtala, wholesale potatoes are trading at Tk280 to Tk 320 per maund (40 kg), while white 'stick' potatoes are fetching just Tk220 to Tk230 per maund.
DAE officials report that 48 varieties of potatoes-both local and high-yielding-are cultivated across Bogura. This year, the most extensively grown variety has been 'Asterix', locally known as 'stick' potatoes.
The initial production target was 1.2 million tonnes (approximately) from 55,060 hectares of land.
However, actual cultivation exceeded expectation, reaching 60,435 hectares- 5,175 hectares more than last year.
Yield per hectare has also increased, from 21.6 tonnes last year to up to 23 tonnes this season.
In total, record 1.45 million tonnes of potatoes have been harvested this year-an increase of over 340,000 tonnes from the previous season.
"Favourable weather conditions helped boost both the acreage and yield," said a Bogura-based DAE official. However, the abundant supply has itself become a problem.
Bogura has 42 cold storages with a total storage capacity of around 400,000 tonnes-insufficient to absorb the massive surplus.
Moreover, the district's annual potato demand is just 300,000 tonnes, based on its 3.75 million population. As a result, many farmers and seasonal traders are now in a crisis.
The agriculture department estimates that approximately 30 per cent of the total produced potato becomes waste due to inadequate storage and cold-chain facilities.
Makhlis Ali, a farmer from Betgari village in Shibganj upazila, said that he suffered a loss of at least Tk 95,000 this season despite cultivating potato on 10 bighas of land. A good harvest yielded 650 maunds of both Pakri and stick potatoes. Unable to fetch a fair price, 50 maunds of potatoes are now rotting at his home for want of storage facilities.
He recently sold Pakri potatoes for Tk7.0 to 8.0 per kg and stick potatoes for Tk 5.0 to 5.5-against a production cost of Tk12 to 15 per kg. Faridur Rahman Farid, assistant agricultural officer at the Bogura DAE, said potato seed
prices rose significantly this season-Tk80 to Tk 100 per kg in 2024-25, up from Tk 35 to Tk 40 the previous year.
Costs for pesticides, labour, and land leases also rose, pushing the per kg production cost up by about Tk2.0.
Nazmul, a farmer from Feni village who came to Kitchak Haat to sell his produce, said: "Business syndicates
control the cold storage cards, so genuine farmers like us don't get space to store our potatoes".
The market itself is also controlled by syndicates.
Because of them, the farmers cannot get the minimum fair price, he added.
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