Price plunge alarms Bangladesh potato farmers

Potato prices in Bangladesh have plunged to a four-year low both at retail and grower levels due to an increased supply.

The fall in prices has created fears among farmers of another year of losses.

"The prices are too low to cover the production costs. I didn't sell potato at such a low price in the past several years,"said a farmer at Munshiganj, Mir Mohammad Sirajull Islam, who incurred a loss of Tk 6.68 lakh last year due to low prices.

"My capital is exhausted. I can't bear the losses year after year. I am going to quit potato cultivation,"said a battered Islam, who borrowed a portion of his funds to grow the tuber, one of the most consumed vegetables.

Jasim Uddin, chairman of Bangladesh Cold Storage Association, said these early harvested potatoes are too immature to preserve.

He said production would touch as high as one crore tonnes this year from 80 lakh tonnes a year ago.

Unless the government intervenes in buying the potato to distribute through its various safety net schemes, the farmers may not get fair prices and recover their production costs, he said.