Granula variety potato selling at one taka per kg in Nilphamari

Our Correspondent | Published: February 02, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

NILPHAMARI, Feb 1:  Price of early cultivated granula variety potato is being sold at just above one taka per kg in Nilphamarid district. While contacted one wholesaler of Nilphamari Bazar Osman Goni said the prevailing price of one sack (100 kg) of granula variety potato is sold at Tk 120. As a result of such unprecedented decline in price which had not happened before, the growers of this early variety potato totally lost their invested capital in cultivating the crop.
Farmer sources said even their harvesting cost was not recovered as it takes Tk 3000 to cultivate one bigha (30 decimal) of potato.
Sources said this early variety potato was cultivated in the Bengali month of Ashwin to be sold at good high price in the months of Agrahawan and Poush. But due to prolonged political turmoil of hartal and block all transportation was suspended for months and as a result thousands tonnes of potato are still lying unsold and a portion of the crop in yet to be harvested. Some farmers are now destroying the crop in the farmland by using power tiller to cultivate Boro paddy in the same cropland.
DAE sources said this year's target of early variety potato cultivation was in 1385 hectors of land out of which granula variety is in 1250 hectares, carriage variety in 120 hectare and diamond in 15 hectares of land.