There is no end to the instability in the market for daily essentials: one day one item's price rises, the next day another's. This year even the potato, usually a stable item, has joined the list. It now costs more than at any other time.

Over the past two days potato prices have risen further to Tk 40 a kg from Tk 35. The rise began after Eid, when potatoes sold at Tk 25 a kg, meaning the price has gone up by Tk 15 a kg in less than a month.

The rise also shows up in Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) data. The agency says potato prices have risen 29 percent in a month and nearly 74 percent in a year. A kg cost Tk 18-25 this time last year and now sells for Tk 35-40.

Yet no logical reason for the rise can be found. Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) data show that 11.1 million tonnes of potatoes were produced in the current fiscal year (2022-23), more than last year's 11 million tonnes, and far more than demand. The country's annual potato demand is 8.5 to at most 9 million tonnes.

In other years, with output above demand, prices usually stayed stable. Potatoes went unsold in cold stores at the end of the season, and traders spoke of losses by year end. This year prices are rising despite ample stocks in cold storage. Some blame higher demand, others the knock-on effect of other price rises, and some suspect a syndicate.

The higher prices are putting extra pressure on low-income families, and the high price of this essential item has also hit the daily spending of middle-class buyers.

Day labourer Rafiq Mia, speaking at Dhaka's Segunbagicha market on Wednesday (17 May), told Jagonews: "Right after Eid the prices of nearly all essentials went up: spices, eggs, cooking oil, sugar. Every week something at the vegetable market gets dearer. Now potatoes have joined that list. There is no relief in anything."

"Even if you couldn't buy other vegetables, you could eat potatoes before," he said. "Not any more. No one thinks about what poor people will eat to survive."

At Segunbagicha and at Karwan Bazar, Shantinagar and Hatirpool markets in the capital, white and red potatoes were selling at Tk 40 a kg, up from Tk 35 two days earlier. A few shops at Karwan Bazar still charge Tk 35, but few shops in other markets sell at that price.

Those still selling at the old price had bought their stock earlier. Karwan Bazar potato trader Amir Hossain said: "At wholesale the price is Tk 5 a kg higher. We have adjusted and are charging Tk 35-40 a kg depending on quality, but if we bought earlier we can charge a little less."

Wholesale trader Farid Uddin at the same market said: "Wholesale prices rose two days ago. I used to sell a palla (5 kg) for Tk 150. Now I sell it for Tk 156 depending on quality. That means wholesale prices have gone up by Tk 5 a kg in two days."

Enquiries show prices of all kinds of potatoes have also risen in the growing areas. In Bogura, wholesale prices for all types have gone up at cold-storage level over the past three weeks.

Yakub Ali, a potato trader in Bogura's Sherpur, said: "Since Eid, white (Granola) and red (Cardinal) potatoes have risen by Tk 10 a kg at the cold stores, and Bogura's famous small local Pakri potato by Tk 12-15 a kg. After three weeks, white and red potatoes now sell for Tk 30-34 a kg at the cold stores, and local Pakri potatoes for Tk 38."

Potato growers and traders in outlying areas say: "Potato cultivation has fallen a lot this year. At the same time, rising prices of other vegetables have increased demand for potatoes. Lower supply against that demand is the main reason prices are jumping."

Anwarul Islam, a grower in Akkelpur Sadar, Joypurhat, told Jagonews: "Potatoes fetched poor prices for several years, so many people cut back after losses. That is why supply is lower."

Sumon Patwari, owner of SS Cold Store in the area, said: "Because prices have risen, there is a rush to take stored potatoes out of cold storage. Depending on the variety, the profit is now Tk 600-700 on a 60 kg sack, so potatoes are being sold from cold storage almost as soon as the storage season starts."

"In other years no farmer took potatoes out of cold storage to sell at this time," he said. "This year 15-20 percent have already been sold. Traders from different parts of the country are coming to buy."

Mokhlesur Rahman, director of the DAE's tuber crops development project, said there should be no shortage of potato supply. "Every year surplus potatoes are our problem. They go unsold and farmers lose money," he told Jagonews.

"This year too the harvest has been very large. Although the area fell somewhat, good yields mean production is higher than last year. I cannot understand why potato prices have gone up," he said.

"Cold storage owners have held on to potatoes this year," Mokhlesur Rahman said. "They are still keeping 40,000 tonnes for seed, which is not needed. They are creating some trouble to push up market prices."

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