The potato farmers are experiencing the same fate this season like that of last one as prices of the carbohydrate- enriched crop fell drastically in the growing hubs following the ongoing blockade and hartal that severely hampered the normal trading.
But, the fall in the prices of potato came as a blessing for the big traders and their allied Paikers or Farias (seasonal traders) who have an easy access to cold storages, farmers said.
However, cold storage owners said their storage capacity is much lower compared to that of the local output.
Meanwhile, the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) and Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) data showed that different varieties of potatoes are sold at a rate 300-400 per cent higher in the big cities like Dhaka and Chittagong compared to that of farmers' level.
Granola and diamond varieties of potato price fell to just Tk 3-4.5 per kg and cardinal variety to Tk 6-6.5 per kg at farmers' level in the districts of Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions which was Tk10-12 and Tk 13-14 per kg respectively in the first week of January last, DAM data showed.
Price of per 85- kg sack of granola and diamond varieties of potato in Ragnpur, Bogra and Rajshahi regions were between Tk 250 and Tk 400 at farm level.
The price of granola at retail level was Tk 4-5 per kg in Nilphamari and Tk15-18 per kg in Dhaka and Chittagong districts, DAM data revealed.
An official at DAM said the price is going to touch last year's price when granola variety fell to just Tk1.5 to Tk2.0 per kg (February, 2014), which was a record fall in a decade.
TCB data showed that granola variety of potato sold at Tk 18 per kg at retail in Dhaka on Thursday last and a survey of key markets in Dhaka by the FE found prices of cardinal variety at Tk 22-25 per kg in the capital.
However, the farmers have become thunderstruck, as the price of their produce reached an unprecedented level as normal trading has been hampered severely due to the blockade.
Ashfaq Ali, a farmer of Shatibari in Rangpur told the FE that the price trend was good in December last when the farmers started harvesting.
"But the blockade and hartals have caused severe damage to us as prices of the produce began to fall from January", he said.
I've got 80 sacks (per sack of 85 kg) of potato from my 6 bighas of land and sold 60 sacks just at Tk 260 per sack against a production cost of Tk 500, he lamented.
He said he borrowed Tk 5,000 from a Paiker during cultivation who bought all of his potatoes.
"I couldn't store potato as I needed money for Boro cultivation," he said.
Md Shahjahan Ali, another potato farmer at Pakerhat in Dinajpur, said the nearby cold storages are already filled with potatoes and they were still searching for buyers.
"We have no access to cold storages for lack of capital. Big traders, including the cold storage owners and the seasonal Farias are being benefited from the price fall," he said.
"We have failed to get back even half of our investment this year," he added.
Additional director at Field Service Wing under Department of Agriculture Extension Md Rafiqul Hasan told the FE that last year potato production marked a record 8.9 million tonnes.
He said this year the target has been set at 8.7 million tonnes.
"Nearly 60 per cent of harvest has been completed so far and we are expecting another good output this year," he said.
However, potato storage charge is Tk 360 for an 80- kg sack while Tk 220 for 50 -kg sack, according to the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association (BCSA).
BCSA chairman Md Jasim Uddin said nearly 403 cold storages across the country can store only 4 million tonnes of potatoes, which is 45 per cent of the total production.
Besides, the cold storages have a stockpile of 0.5 million tonnes of potato from last year's production, he said.
He informed that seven cold storages in Rangpuir and Lalmonirhat are grappling with nearly 70,000 tonnes from last year's stock.
He urged the government for incorporating potato in the government's safety-net programmes like VGD and VGF to benefit both the farmers and cold storage owners.
According to the directorate general of food (DGoF), annual demand for potato in the country is 6.5-7.0 million tonnes, against its production target of 8.9 million tonnes.
tonmoy.wardad@gamil.com
Blockade, hartal lead to big fall in potato price
Yasir Wardad | Published: February 14, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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