Production cost of potato goes up in northern region
Saturday, 29 December 2007
FHM Humayan Kabir, back from Rajshahi
The production cost of potato has gone up considerably in the northern region of the country following high price of fertiliser and increased cost of irrigation.
Some farmers in the northern region said production cost of potato this year would stand anywhere between Tk 25,000 and Tk 27,000 per bigha compared to Tk 16,000-Tk 18,000 of last year.
According to sources, Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has fixed the potato production target at 4,407,936 tonnes from 249,600 hectares during the current Rabi season.
The cultivation of potato in Rajshahi division has already been completed and the harvest is due in February-March next year.
Akbar Hossain, a potato grower at Mohanpur Upazila under Rajshahi district told the FE that he had cultivated potato in 15 bighas and the average production cost would stand around Tk 26,000 per bigha.
He said: "I have already spent over Tk 23,000 for cultivating each bigha while additional Tk2000-Tk 3000 will be required to harvest the crop."
Salahuddin, another farmer in the same area said potato production in his farm would be less as he failed to use adequate fertiliser due to scarcity of the inputs.
"I have used 15kg di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), 20kg murate of potash (MoP) and 40kg of urea in my one bigha land during the cultivation period instead of necessary 50kg, 50kg and 75kg respectively. So, the production will not exceed 20 bags per bigha instead of my earlier target of 30 bags," he stated.
There are some 23 cold storages in Rajshahi districts for potato preservation. Potato storage capacity of those cold storage are around 3.0 million bags.
According to the businessmen and potato growers, Rajshahi, greater Rangpur, Bogra, and Munshiganj districts produces about 80 per cent of the total potato production of the country.
The production cost of potato has gone up considerably in the northern region of the country following high price of fertiliser and increased cost of irrigation.
Some farmers in the northern region said production cost of potato this year would stand anywhere between Tk 25,000 and Tk 27,000 per bigha compared to Tk 16,000-Tk 18,000 of last year.
According to sources, Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has fixed the potato production target at 4,407,936 tonnes from 249,600 hectares during the current Rabi season.
The cultivation of potato in Rajshahi division has already been completed and the harvest is due in February-March next year.
Akbar Hossain, a potato grower at Mohanpur Upazila under Rajshahi district told the FE that he had cultivated potato in 15 bighas and the average production cost would stand around Tk 26,000 per bigha.
He said: "I have already spent over Tk 23,000 for cultivating each bigha while additional Tk2000-Tk 3000 will be required to harvest the crop."
Salahuddin, another farmer in the same area said potato production in his farm would be less as he failed to use adequate fertiliser due to scarcity of the inputs.
"I have used 15kg di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), 20kg murate of potash (MoP) and 40kg of urea in my one bigha land during the cultivation period instead of necessary 50kg, 50kg and 75kg respectively. So, the production will not exceed 20 bags per bigha instead of my earlier target of 30 bags," he stated.
There are some 23 cold storages in Rajshahi districts for potato preservation. Potato storage capacity of those cold storage are around 3.0 million bags.
According to the businessmen and potato growers, Rajshahi, greater Rangpur, Bogra, and Munshiganj districts produces about 80 per cent of the total potato production of the country.