Potato Farmers in Bangladesh suffer as a result of the huge surplus this year

The suffering of potato growers in Bangladesh is increasing day by day even though their yield is high, as they are stuck with surplus stocks and low exports.

Bangladesh is the seventh largest producer of the tuber crop. It produced a record high of 1.09 crore tonnes (10.9 million tonnes) last year, according to the De-partment of Agricultural Extension (DAE).

With an annual average demand of around 70 lakh tonnes (7 million tonnes), the country witnessed a surplus of about 40 lakh tonnes (4 million tonnes), most of which is wasted.

Not all of the surplus can be stored in the cold storages for low capacity, said experts.

For a lack of better use of the surplus, farmers are left with no option but to feed these potatoes to cattle, said growers.

Kazi Munni, owner of Refat Enterprise and joint secretary of Bangladesh Potato Exporters Association, said, “Russia should not be our target market as it takes 70 days for the potatoes to reach there by ship. We should focus more on markets in Asia and the Middle East.”

The product standard and quality that the European Union and Russia demand is very high and ultimately too expensive and not feasible for Bangladeshi farmers, she added.

Kazi Munni:

“There is also a section of dishonest businessmen who are exporting low quality products and creating a negative image of the country. There should be strict export guidelines in place.”

Khawza Mia, a potato farmer in Rohobol village of Shibganj Upazila in Bogura, said they got good prices for their produce two years ago.

Khawza Mia:

“But ever since, prices have been falling.”

Farmers in Bogura grew potatoes on 57,000 hectares of land this year and harvested 12,82,500 tonnes of the tuber crop.

Khawza Mia:

“We now sell a kilogram of potato for Tk 10, which was Tk 40 two years ago. If this situation continues, we will have to shift to farming other crops.”

Farmers in Munshiganj, a potato farming hub in the country, grew the crop on 38,300 hectares of land this season, and got a yield of around 13 lakh tonnes.

Sirajul Islam Mir, a farmer in Katakhali village of the district, said he pro-duced 700 maunds of potatoes this year. He sold a maund for Tk 310, against a production cost of Tk 360.

Sirajul Islam Mir:

“Instead of selling my produce, I stored 170 maunds in my house for the low price. But even those are rotting by the day. In the last four years, I counted losses of almost Tk 22 lakh for potato farming.”

Awlad Hossain, another famer in the village, spent Tk 170,000 to grow potatoes earlier this year, but he got only Tk 130,000 in return.

Humayun Kabir, deputy director of the district DAE, said there are 68 cold storages in the district with a capacity of around 5.5 lakh tonnes.

Humayun Kabir:

“Those are currently keeping around four lakh tonnes of potatoes. Farmers are not interested in selling them as market prices are low.”