With prices rising steadily in the local market, the government has given permission to import potatoes. On the first day, permission was given to import 19,400 tonnes.

The information was given in a press release from the Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday night (31 October).

It said the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) has started issuing potato import permits. So far, permission has been given to import 19,400 tonnes against 28 applications.

For most of the past ten months potatoes cost Tk 50 a kg or more. The price of this essential farm product has kept rising and has now reached Tk 70. In some places it sells for Tk 65, and at big shops in the market for Tk 60. The abnormal rise in potato prices has left ordinary people uneasy. Amid this, the Ministry of Commerce announced the potato imports.

On Monday at the Secretariat, agriculture minister Md Abdur Razzaque told journalists that the Ministry of Commerce had requested that day that it wanted to import potatoes in this situation. "We have also considered all aspects and seen that people cannot buy potatoes at such high prices. They want to bring in potatoes, and we have agreed. Issuing import permits (IPs) will start from today. This will bring prices down and give people some relief," he said.

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