The early potato crop in the Rajshahi region will start coming out of the ground in about a month, yet the district's cold stores are still full of last season's potatoes. The owners have told farmers and traders to clear their stock by 30 November so the stores can be readied for the new season between January and February, but prices are so low that taking potatoes out means a loss and leaving them in brings trouble of its own.
Banglanews24's Rajshahi report puts the wholesale price at Tk 12 to 14 a kilogram and the retail price at Tk 15 to 20. Growing the potatoes and storing them cost Tk 22 to 25 a kilo, so sellers lose about Tk 11 on every kilo. With demand and prices weak, farmers and traders are leaving their stock in storage.
According to the Rajshahi Cold Storage Owners' Association, the district's 36 cold stores took in about 650,000 tonnes of potatoes in 8 million sacks. About half has been taken out, and a third of the rest will be used as seed, leaving about 150,000 tonnes unsold. When new potatoes reach the market in a month to six weeks, old stock will be even harder to sell.
Sheikh Mobinur Rahman, a grower from Basantakedar village in Mohanpur, has 250 sacks at the Uttara store in Paba. "There is trouble if we take the potatoes out and trouble if we leave them in the store," he said. "If we do not collect them, the owner will auction them to recover the rent." Helal Uddin, a potato trader in Baya, said 60 percent of what his group stored is still in the cold store, and asked how so much could be sold in a single month.
Fazlur Rahman, general secretary of the owners' association, said the agreements allow storage until 30 November; given the market, the stores may keep potatoes a little longer, but they must be empty within December. Ali Ashraf Hossain, manager of Asma cold storage in Baya, said nothing could stay after 30 December and potatoes left uncollected would be auctioned to cover the rent.
Iftekharul Islam, general secretary of the Rajshahi District Potato and Raw Produce Traders' Association, said Rajshahi's potato growers and small traders had suffered badly over the past two seasons and were facing heavy losses again. Many were thinking of giving up potatoes, he said, while the government was taking no step to ease their plight.
The report was filed by Banglanews24's divisional correspondent.
Photo: Hridoye Mati O Manush / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Source: Banglanews24
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