Even though the early harvest ramps up, people in Dhaka are paying through the nose for potatoes this year thanks to a delayed planting season caused by cyclone disruptions.
Both fresh and stored potatoes hover around Tk 55-70 per kg, with stored varieties seeing a further Tk 5-8 jump in just a week, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
These inflated prices, 155 per cent higher than last year's average, arise from a disrupted supply chain. Consecutive cyclones in October and November forced farmers in northern regions to plant late, creating a gap between demand and what is currently available.
"Usually, December brings a flood of new potatoes and lower prices for stored ones," said Guljar Hossain, a vegetable vendor in Dhaka's Mohammadpur. "But this year, it's different."
Both old and new potatoes are fetching the same sky-high price -- Tk 48-55 per kg at wholesale. The vegetable vendor said stored potatoes were at Tk 22-25 in wholesale last December.
Farm economist Prof Gazi M Jalil pointed to the limited supply of fresh potatoes as a key factor.
"Farmers are only managing around 3,000 tonnes daily from their early harvest, while demand sits at a hefty 20,000 tonnes," he said. "This gives traders and cold storage owners, still stocked with older potatoes, the power to keep prices elevated."
Dr Tajuil Ahmed Patwary, director of the Field Service Wing at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), also blamed the cyclone-induced delays in potato planting, with some northern districts facing setbacks of two to three weeks.
Heavy rainfall caused by cyclone Hamoon in October hampered planting, while cyclone Midhili in November caused damage to standing crops in many districts, he said.
"Farmers are catching up, lured by the high prices," he says. "We're on track to hit our target acreage by January, yielding 11.6 million tonnes of potatoes."
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) data shows a 17,000-hectare drop in potato acreage compared to last year. The harvest also lags behind, with just 70,000 tonnes collected in the past three and a half weeks, compared to 300,000 tonnes at the same point last year.
Professor Dr Abdul Hamid, chairman of the Agrarian Research Foundation, Bangladesh (ARF), said, "This year's four cyclones - Mocha, Hamoon, Midhili and Michaung - are a stark reminder of our changing climate."
"The government needs to act. These storms aren't just hurting farmers; they're threatening our entire agricultural chain and national economy," he commented.
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