With hotels and restaurants across the country closed during the coronavirus pandemic, 50 per cent of the potatoes in Rangpur division's 80 cold stores remain unsold, and the sheds are still full. Although the Covid situation has improved, many farmers and traders are not taking their potatoes out because market prices are low compared with costs. Cold storage owners in Rangpur division fear a loss of an estimated Tk 1,000 crore if the stored potatoes cannot be marketed within two months, and they have urged the government to take quick and effective steps.

Cold storage owners made these points at a day-long meeting of Rangpur divisional cold storage owners held yesterday on "The overall situation of potatoes stored in cold stores and what to do in the 2022 storage season", organised by the Rangpur Chamber.

The meeting was held at the RCCI auditorium in the Rangpur Chamber building, chaired by Chamber president Mostafa Sohrab Chowdhury Titu. The chief guest was Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu, senior vice-president of the FBCCI, former president of the BCI and the Rangpur Chamber, and head of Motahar Group of Industries.

Special guests were Prof Dr Hosne Ara Begum, founder of TMSS and president of the Bogura District Cold Storage Owners' Association; Md Istiak Ahmed, vice-president of the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association and managing director of Ezab Group; Mohammad Yunus, managing director of Yunus Group; freedom fighter Md Mosaddek Hossain Bablu, former president of the Rangpur Chamber and former director of the FBCCI; and Habibul Islam Bablu, chairman of Razzak Group and president of the Thakurgaon Chamber.

Chief guest Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu said only two months remain for marketing this season's potatoes. If the stored potatoes are not sold within that time, a huge quantity will remain unsold. He urged the government to compensate cold storage owners through subsidies. Cold storage owners have made losses in six of the past 10 years and are on the verge of ruin, he said, and he urged them to unite to gain acceptance with the government. Finally, he called for associations to organise cold storage owners in every district.

Speaking for the cold storage owners were Md Nurul Moin Minu, managing director of M Rahman Cold Storage in Dinajpur; Moksud Ahmed, managing director of Teesta cold storage in Lalmonirhat; Md Emdadul Haque Bharsa, director of Bharsa Group and managing director of Azizun Nesa Cold Storage; Abdus Salam, managing director of Howlader Cold Storage in Thakurgaon; Md Jahangir Alam, director of Mostafa cold storage in Kurigram; Md Shariful Islam Babu, managing director of Mukta cold storage in Nilphamari; Md Ekramul Haque, managing director of Brothers Cold Storage in Rangpur; and Abul Kalam Azad, general secretary of the Bogura District Cold Storage Owners' Association.

Cold storage owners and representatives from Rangpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh, Dinajpur, Nilphamari, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Gaibandha districts of Rangpur division also attended.

Source: Bonik Barta. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.