Farmers and traders in Kurigram cannot recover their costs by selling potatoes from cold storage. Growing and storing a kilogram costs more than Tk 20, but the market price is Tk 11 to 12, and even then buyers are few. That means a loss of Tk 8 to 9 a kilogram.
By farmers' and traders' reckoning, cold-storage rent alone accounts for more than Tk 9 of the Tk 20-plus cost. Production rose this year and supply with it, while a shortage of empty sacks, dearer sacks and higher storage rent pushed up the cost of keeping potatoes.
Early in the season potatoes fetched Tk 14 to 17 a kilogram, but because that was below cost many people stored them instead of selling, and prices then fell further. Abdullah, a farmer in Rajarhat, said he stored potatoes hoping for a profit; selling at Tk 11-12 will not even cover production, and the storage rent makes the loss bigger.
There are fears that large amounts will stay unsold in the district's six cold stores. Sharif Al Masud, manager of Babar Cold Storage in Kurigram Sadar, said it took in 11,000 tonnes and has sold 6,000; 5,000 tonnes remain, about 1,000 tonnes of it seed potatoes, and it is unclear whether the rest can be sold in the next two months.
District agricultural marketing officer Rima Moni Shil said potato prices keep falling, hurting farmers and traders. Upazila agriculture officer Tushar Kanti Roy said higher production raised supply and lowered prices; proper management of stored potatoes could give prices room to rise, but without quick sales the losses will grow.
The report is by Habibur Rahman Habib, Protidiner Bangladesh's correspondent in Rajarhat, Kurigram.
Photo: Hridoye Mati O Manush / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Source: Protidiner Bangladesh
Comments
(0)