The Ministry of Agriculture has lowered the maximum rent for storing potatoes in cold storage from Tk 6.75 to Tk 6 a kilo. The previous ceiling was set on 3 March 2025 by the Department of Agricultural Marketing under the interim government. The new rate applies until 31 December. The Bangladesh Cold Storage Association has objected and asked for the decision to be reconsidered.

The rate was fixed at a meeting in the Secretariat on 30 August chaired by Agriculture Secretary Selim Khan and attended by the marketing department, the cold storage association and representatives of potato growers' and traders' bodies from several regions. The department issued a circular the next day, 31 August.

Selim Khan said a committee of deputy commissioners from 25 districts had recommended Tk 5.50 a kilo as a reasonable rent, and the ministry settled on Tk 6 after persuading farmers. Storage owners had first asked for Tk 6.38 and later Tk 6.10. Farmers, he said, are currently selling potatoes at a loss.

In its petition, signed by president Mostafa Azad Chowdhury, the association says more than 2.3 million tonnes of potatoes are now in storage and the 75-paisa cut will reduce owners' income by about Tk 1.725 billion, threatening loan instalments and interest payments and possibly forcing closures. It notes that commercial power tariffs rose 18 per cent on 1 June, after which it asked the ministry on 8 June to raise, not lower, the rent. On 6 September it appealed to Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, and separately to Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir, who said the government would look at the petition and act as needed.

Growers see it differently. Delwar Hossain, president of the Munshiganj district potato growers' association, said the 62 cold stores in Munshiganj had in practice been charging Tk 5.50 a kilo despite the Tk 6.75 ceiling, so the Tk 1.72 billion loss figure did not add up. The actual cost of storing a kilo, he said, is no more than Tk 2.50. Ministry sources say potatoes that leave the farm at Tk 14–15 a kilo retail at Tk 25–30 after passing through several hands.

Bangladesh produced 11.5 million tonnes of potatoes in 2025-26 against annual demand of 8.5 to 9 million tonnes. Exporting part of the surplus would ease pressure on the domestic market and help farmers, traders argue, and they have sought government support. At the 11th Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong on Thursday, Sri Lanka's trade and food security minister Wasantha Samarasinghe told the commerce minister his country was interested in importing potatoes and onions from Bangladesh; a trade delegation will soon assess the Sri Lankan market.

Source: Prothom Alo