Farmers who grow potato seed under contract with the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) will get loans from Bangladesh Krishi Bank for the 2027 fiscal year. A circular the bank issued on 1 November covers 893 farmers, with the amount per acre set by the class of seed and a ceiling of Tk 105,610 (1 lakh 5 thousand 610 taka).
Under the circular, growers of foundation seed can borrow Tk 105,610 an acre; those producing certified seed from imported foundation seed Tk 87,130; and those producing certified seed Tk 58,640. The money may be spent on seed, fertiliser, pesticides and other crop protection inputs. Disbursement must be finished by 30 December, and the loans repaid with interest by 30 June next year.
Farmers in 19 districts under BADC's 20 potato seed production zones are eligible, among them Gazipur, Sherpur, Kishoreganj, Jamalpur, Jashore, Faridpur, Kushtia, Cumilla, Meherpur, Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Tangail, Narail, Gopalganj, Patuakhali, Bhola, Chuadanga and Magura. The scheme runs under a five-year memorandum of understanding BADC and the bank signed on 19 October 2025, valid until 30 September 2030.
In FY2026 the bank lent a total of Tk 17.59 crore to 1,133 farmers and recovered 99.74 percent of it, according to its own report. The new circular says limits in the budget allocation must not hold up disbursement, and tells BADC and bank officials to work together on lending and recovery.
The shortage of good seed explains the scheme. A 2024 assessment of Bangladesh's seed sector by Wageningen University and Research, citing BADC figures, put annual demand for potato seed at 7 million to 7.7 million tonnes, of which public and private suppliers together meet only 20 percent: about 15 percent from private firms and 5 percent from BADC. Farmers keep the other 80 percent back from their own harvest. BADC has priced its first-class potato seed at Tk 27 a kilogram for FY2027; private and imported seed costs more.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics figures show potato output fell 2.6 percent in FY2026, from 11.573 million tonnes the year before to 11.272 million tonnes, while the area planted shrank from 1,229,298 acres to 1,149,449 acres. Over the long run output has grown, from 5.8 million tonnes in 2000 to about 11 million tonnes in 2023.
Agricare24 published the report on the basis of figures from The Business Standard (TBS).
Photo: Kuu Pulok / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Agricare24
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