Farmers and traders in Sirajdikhan upazila, Munshiganj, who kept potatoes in cold storage hoping for better prices now face heavy losses. Some 780,000 sacks of 50 kg remain in the upazila's nine cold stores. At a loss of Tk 700 a sack, that comes to about Tk 55 crore.
The arithmetic: seed, fertiliser, pesticide and labour bring the cost of a sack from field to cold store to Tk 600; the empty sack costs Tk 80 and storage Tk 300, about Tk 980 in all. Once taken out, with labour and transport paid, the sack fetches only Tk 300 at market, a loss of Tk 680.
According to the upazila agriculture office, Sirajdikhan grew potatoes on 8,958 hectares last year and harvested 302,075 tonnes. Many sold in the field, but many others stored their crop for a higher price. Potatoes not removed by 30 November lose their storage term, and planting of the new crop begins in late November.
Mahbub Hossain Rontu, a trader in Latabdi union, stored 8,000 sacks at the Nahar, Neptune and Samrat cold stores and has sold only 1,000; he faces a loss of about Tk 50 lakh. Darbesh Ali of Bhuira village, Boyragadi, stored 7,000 sacks at Nahar Cold Storage, sold 4,000 at a loss and still has 3,000.
The cold stores are squeezed too. Shah Alam, manager of Foyez Cold Storage, said 55,000 of the 105,000 sacks stored there are still in, and nobody wants to pay the Tk 300 rent to take them. Arshad Hossain, manager of Nahar Cold Storage, said about 60,000 sacks remain; under contract they should be collected next month, but no one is coming.
Upazila agriculture officer Rafiqul Islam said favourable weather produced a big crop last year, and output above demand leaves farmers with losses every year. The Department of Agricultural Extension has trained farmers to grow exportable varieties instead of local ones.
Reported by Imtiaz Babul, Samakal's Sirajdikhan (Munshiganj) correspondent.
Photo: A sack of potatoes (illustrative), Sargoth / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Source: Samakal
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