Retail price of potato should be Tk 36 per kg: DNCRP

Terming the present potato pricing both unreasonable and unethical, the state-run DNCRP said the maximum retail price (MRP) of the produce should be Tk 36 per kilogram.
The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) will launch a drive in the markets soon to cool the potato price, said DNCRP Director General (DG) AHM Safiquzzaman at a press conference at its office in the city on Tuesday.
The Bangladesh Cold Storage Association (BCSA) representatives, potato wholesalers, retailers, and officials of other agencies concerned were present on the occasion.
Mr Shafiquzzaman said as per available data of this year, potato farmers sold their produce at Tk 10-12 a kg. Traders stored the item in cold storages, and their cost stood at Tk 18-20 a kg, including expenses like storage cost of Tk 5.0 a kg.
Potato eventually reached consumers through wholesale and retail markets in the capital, and its MRP should be Tk 35-36 a kg against the current price of Tk 48-50 a kg.
He announced that the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) would give due instructions to enhance local-level monitoring to address this issue promptly.
"Both the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the DNCRP are working collaboratively to stabilise potato prices within the coming week," he added.
The business representatives present in the meeting also expressed their concern regarding the escalating potato price.
Wholesalers attributed the price increase to rise in potato demand due to price hike of other vegetables, leading to its decreased supply and subsequent high price.
They also raised concern over excessive profit making of retail traders.
On the other hand, retailers pointed to wholesalers' supply shortage as the primary reason for the price surge, while some mentioned reduction in potato supply from cold storages.
BCSA President Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu said 55 per cent potato of the cold storages are owned by traders and big farmers, 4.0 per cent are kept for industrial purposes and export, 40 per cent for seeds, while only 1.0 per cent are owned by cold storage owners.
He denied any involvements of cold storage owners in the price hike and opined that they are not responsible for the situation.
The DNCRP DG stated that they are not fixing potato price, as agricultural products are not subject to price control under their law.
However, the agency would focus on addressing potato market price discrepancies. Effective immediately, potato would only be allowed to be bought and sold with proper receipts.
Furthermore, market monitoring would be intensified in Dhaka's Shyambazar and Chittagong's Khatunganj markets to curb price manipulation and ensure fair price for consumers, he added. The MoC directed the BCSA on September 05 to provide potato storage data of last three years following the volatility in potato market.
Potato price has hit a four-year high of Tk 50-60 a kg, marking 40 per cent hike in last two months, and it is 62 per cent higher than that of a year ago.
According to the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM), a total of 2.7 million tonnes of potato were stored in the country's cold storages this year, which were 2.4 million tonnes last year.
Meanwhile, the MoA claimed a record potato production of 11.2 million tonnes this year, when another government agency - the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) - said it was 10.4 million tonnes.

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