Cold storage owners have suggested the government procure and preserve one million tonnes of potatoes annually to control artificial price hikes of the widely-consumed item, sources say.
Bangladesh Cold Storage Association (BCSA) recently sent the proposal and requested necessary action be taken in this regard.
Stored potato prices have further increased to Tk 80 a kg. The all-time high price had already put consumers in a fix, said insiders. The previous record was in August 2021 when prices reached Tk 65-70 a kg.
According to the association, potato prices in the market recently went beyond the reasonable mark, making it difficult for the public to meet their daily needs by purchasing the vegetable at high prices.
It said the government was determined to provide all types of food and consumer goods for the public at reasonable prices and was making continuous efforts to this end.
The BCSA believes if one million tonnes of potatoes are procured by the government in the upcoming season of 2025 and stored in cold storage, prices can be kept at reasonable and affordable levels.
According to the association, potato prices generally rise and cross the rational level from August onwards every year. At the time, if 0.25 million tonnes of potatoes are supplied to the market every month on average from that stock, prices will be within the purchasing power of consumers. Besides, it will be possible to control prices.
That is why one million tonnes of potatoes should be procured through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh during the full season, stored in cold storage in different regions across the country, and then supplied to the market at fair prices during the peak season, said the BCSA.
Arman Habib, a potato trader at Mohammadpur Krishi Market in the capital, told The Financial Express prices in cold storage had gone up to Tk 68-70 a kg from Tk 56-58 a kg a few days back.
He said they were selling potato to retailers at Tk 78-80 a kg, adding prices at cold storage gates had increased by Tk 15-20 a kg in the last three weeks.
Cold storage owners as well as big traders were cashing in on potato sales, the trader further said.
A Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) official told The Financial Express the demand for potato seeds was higher in the ongoing peak cultivation season. He said the prices of seeds, marketed by the private sector, were above Tk 85 a kg.
The demand for seeds was 0.75-0.8 million tonnes in the country while BADC had distributed nearly 37,000 tonnes, said the official. "Many farmers earlier sold potatoes intended to be used as seeds because they got good prices, which has also created some difficulties."
Economists said there was a huge gap between actual production and the exaggerated data provided by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
According to the BBS, potato production was 10.6 million tonnes in FY24 while BCSA claims it was nine million tonnes.
BCSA President Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu claimed it would be better to supply the required amount of potatoes at affordable prices when prices increased abnormally in the market because of syndication.
This could be done if the government preserved one million tonnes of the item during the peak season, he said.
To avert abnormal price hikes and the artificial crisis, he suggested increasing potato production to more than 10-11 million tonnes from the existing level.
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