Munshiganj has not met its potato cultivation target this season. According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), potatoes were planted on 2,104 hectares less than targeted. Because of a cyclone and rain during the planting season, potatoes were planted late on most land.

Farmers in the country's top potato-producing district now fear lower yields per hectare and a missed production target. According to the district DAE, the target this season was 37,900 hectares, but potatoes were planted on 35,796 hectares. Of this, 9,680 hectares are in Sadar upazila, 9,500 in Tongibari and 2,000 in Sreenagar.

Potatoes were also planted on 9,151 hectares in Sirajdikhan, 3,360 in Louhajang and 2,105 in Gazaria. The agriculture department has set a total production target of 11 lakh 5,893 tonnes for this land.

According to the agriculture office, a little over 30 tonnes of potatoes should be produced per hectare. With 2,104 hectares of the target area left unplanted, the 6,300 tonnes that land was expected to produce will not be grown, the office's figures show.

Farmers said the best time to plant potatoes is from the first week of November to the first week of December. This year, after a cyclone and rain during planting, potatoes were planted late on most land. Seed rotted on many plots and many farmers did not replant, so less land was planted.

As a result, yields are not expected to meet hopes. Unless the weather is favourable and the harvest is a bumper one, there is no way to meet the target, and farmers will face losses. Many plots also had to be planted twice because of the rain, doubling costs on that land.

ABM Wahidur Rahman, training officer at the district DAE, said the planting target was not met this year because of Cyclone Jawad and rain, raising concern over production. However, a great deal of potatoes has been produced in the north, so there will be no potato shortage in the country as a whole.

To help Munshiganj farmers recover their losses, they are being advised to grow companion crops alongside potatoes and to plant maize or other crops on unplanted land. He said a list of farmers who suffered losses from the rain has been prepared and sent to higher authorities.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.