Anisul Islam Noor :
The potato growers are facing loss due to fall of price for bumper production in last few years in view of favourable weather condition.
Experts said, though Bangladesh’s potato has both domestic and global demand, the farmers are not getting fair price for lack of adequate market facilities.
According to the source of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), the country’s potato output was 1,13.327 lakh tonnes in 2017 against the target of 96 lakh metric tonnes. The production was 94.74 lakh tonnes in 2016 and 92.54 lakh tonnes in 2015.
However, demand for potato in the country is around 70 lakh tonnes. About 10 lakh tonnes are used as seeds.
Every year farmers make profits, but this season they are deprived of fair price mainly due to surplus production.
Heavy rainfall affected early varieties of potato cultivation and delayed the production, taking that opportunity businessmen imported early varieties of potato from India and sold those in the kitchen markets.
Bangladesh Potato Exporters Association (BPEA) leader Sheikh Abdul Kader told The New Nation yesterday that farmers are producing a huge quantity of potatoes, but are deprived of fair price due to lack of proper marketing policy.
Other countries give lots of facilities to export their potato, but Bangladesh does not do so, he said.
“Every year farmers cultivate potatoes and they can
grow two more crops on the same piece of land,” he also said.
If the government will not introduce quality varieties of potato in the country, potato export will shrinks further, he added.
In the first seven months of 2017, about 45,000 metric tonnes of potato were exported.
A total of 40,230 tonnes were exported in the 2015-16 fiscal year, 94,614 tonnes in the 2014-15 fiscal year, 103,000 tonnes in the 2013-14 fiscal year, according to Hortex Foundation.
For shortage of export-quality potato, is not exported enough potato though the country produces surplus, said the exporter.
Different varieties of potatoes are selling at very low prices at growers’ ends of the northern districts.
Potatoes are selling at Tk 5 to Tk 7.5 a kg in Nilphamari recently compared with Tk 14-16 a kg on Sunday in the capital, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.
Shamsul Islam, a farmer from Nilphamari, said production cost of potatoes per kg was Tk six to eight, but they are selling it at lower prices in the local market.
He said cold storage owners did not buy the potato this time as they suffered losses last season.
“Last year cold storage owners witnessed huge loss, for this they are not buying,” he said.
The potato growers are facing loss due to fall of price for bumper production in last few years in view of favourable weather condition.
Experts said, though Bangladesh’s potato has both domestic and global demand, the farmers are not getting fair price for lack of adequate market facilities.
According to the source of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), the country’s potato output was 1,13.327 lakh tonnes in 2017 against the target of 96 lakh metric tonnes. The production was 94.74 lakh tonnes in 2016 and 92.54 lakh tonnes in 2015.
However, demand for potato in the country is around 70 lakh tonnes. About 10 lakh tonnes are used as seeds.
Every year farmers make profits, but this season they are deprived of fair price mainly due to surplus production.
Heavy rainfall affected early varieties of potato cultivation and delayed the production, taking that opportunity businessmen imported early varieties of potato from India and sold those in the kitchen markets.
Bangladesh Potato Exporters Association (BPEA) leader Sheikh Abdul Kader told The New Nation yesterday that farmers are producing a huge quantity of potatoes, but are deprived of fair price due to lack of proper marketing policy.
Other countries give lots of facilities to export their potato, but Bangladesh does not do so, he said.
“Every year farmers cultivate potatoes and they can
grow two more crops on the same piece of land,” he also said.
If the government will not introduce quality varieties of potato in the country, potato export will shrinks further, he added.
In the first seven months of 2017, about 45,000 metric tonnes of potato were exported.
A total of 40,230 tonnes were exported in the 2015-16 fiscal year, 94,614 tonnes in the 2014-15 fiscal year, 103,000 tonnes in the 2013-14 fiscal year, according to Hortex Foundation.
For shortage of export-quality potato, is not exported enough potato though the country produces surplus, said the exporter.
Different varieties of potatoes are selling at very low prices at growers’ ends of the northern districts.
Potatoes are selling at Tk 5 to Tk 7.5 a kg in Nilphamari recently compared with Tk 14-16 a kg on Sunday in the capital, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.
Shamsul Islam, a farmer from Nilphamari, said production cost of potatoes per kg was Tk six to eight, but they are selling it at lower prices in the local market.
He said cold storage owners did not buy the potato this time as they suffered losses last season.
“Last year cold storage owners witnessed huge loss, for this they are not buying,” he said.
