The Bangladesh Cold Storage Association has raised the rent for storing potatoes in cold storage by Tk 1 a kilogram, to Tk 8. Where a sack could previously hold 80 kg of potatoes, from this year no sack may hold more than 50 kg, and rent will be charged by the kilogram rather than by the sack. Farmers have reacted angrily, calling the increase unreasonable.

Potato prices in the country have been volatile throughout the year for the past several years. If cold storage rent rises, it will also affect retail potato prices, and consumers will have to pay more.

Traders and farmers say that, by their calculation, the cost of storing potatoes has almost doubled. They say cold storage owners have faced no rise in costs but, seeing this year's production, raised the rent through a syndicate. If the rent is not reduced, they will have to sell potatoes on the market now at low prices, and take a loss.

The Bangladesh Cold Storage Association, the owners' organisation, says the maximum rent for this season has been set at Tk 8 a kg, up from Tk 7 last year, an increase of Tk 1 a kg. But sacks of more than 50 kg will no longer be accepted as before.

That, it says, is why farmers feel the rent has doubled. Previously, at Tk 7 a kg, farmers paid Tk 350 a sack, but each sack held up to 80 kg of potatoes, and cold stores charged nothing extra for the additional potatoes. Now rent must be paid at Tk 8 for every kilogram in the sack.

Association president Mostafa Azad Chowdhury told Jagonews: "Earlier, farmers stored potatoes at Tk 350 a sack. They never calculated by the kilogram. Those sacks held 60 to 80 kg of potatoes, and we charged no rent for the extra potatoes. Now we have decided not to take sacks of more than 50 kg. Calculating on that basis, farmers feel the rent has doubled."

Nurul Islam, a Rajshahi potato farmer and president of the district potato traders' association, told Jagonews: "After several years, potato production has been good this year and prices have come to a comfortable level. In the midst of this, the Bangladesh cold storage association has set the rent at Tk 8 a kg, which was Tk 4. The owners have done this to exploit farmers. It cannot be accepted."

He said: "Seeing the large potato cultivation, the cold storage owners took this decision through a syndicate. This price is unreasonable."

Munshiganj is famous for potato farming alongside Joypurhat and Rangpur in the north. Enamul Haque, a potato farmer there, said: "If this rent goes up, farmers will be ruined. Unable to keep potatoes in cold storage, they will have to sell them on the market at even lower prices. Many farmers will be left destitute this time."

Farmers said that last year the "paid booking" for storing potatoes was Tk 210 to Tk 220 a sack, and the ordinary rent, or "loose booking", was up to Tk 285. Government rules allow up to 50 kg of potatoes per sack, but farmers are usually able to store more. Paid booking must be made a year before the potatoes are lifted, while loose booking rent is paid when the potatoes are taken out of storage. All told, cold storage rent averaged Tk 5 a kg, and owners are now demanding Tk 8.

In protest at the increase, farmers held a demonstration on the Mohanpur upazila parishad premises in Rajshahi on Sunday. Before that, they dumped potatoes on the Rajshahi-Naogaon highway in the Mohanpur upazila sadar area, and many lay down on the highway.

Farmers argue the increase is unreasonable because no costs, including electricity bills, have gone up. Mostafa Azad Chowdhury said: "In 2021 the cost of storing a kilogram of potatoes was Tk 5, the next year Tk 5.50, then Tk 6, and last year it was set at Tk 7. The rent per kg rises every year because costs rise. But this year the hoarders have united and launched a planned movement."

He said: "If sacks larger than 50 kg are stored, cases are filed under the labour law. The capacity of the cold store also falls. That is why the limit has been set. The interest rate on our bank loans is high. Although the cold storage industry is entirely agriculture-based, we have to pay commercial electricity bills at Tk 12. We get no concessional rate. That is why we took this decision."

He added: "I do not know how much farmers will be harmed by this. The movement now under way is a conspiracy by those who have hoarded potatoes and made profits for several years. They have pushed farmers into the movement."

The agriculture department says the production target this season is 1 crore 13 lakh 67 thousand tonnes of potatoes from 4 lakh 67 thousand hectares. So far 12 per cent of the fields have been harvested. With a good yield this time, production may exceed the target.

About 350 cold stores are now operating in the country, with a potato capacity of about 30 lakh tonnes, a quarter of total production. In season, almost all of them are full of potatoes.

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