Farmers in Rangpur earn Tk 5 per kg by cultivating potatoes

❐ Staff Correspondent

There has been a major price drop in the potato market in the Rangpur region. Although the official price of potatoes is fixed at 22 taka per kg, in reality, that price is not reflected in the market. Excluding cold storage and other costs, farmers are only getting about five taka, resulting in huge losses.

Potato farmers are saying that cultivating potatoes is now a burden on farmers.

According to the Agriculture Department, potatoes have been cultivated on about 66,280 hectares of land in Rangpur district this season. About 2 million tons of potatoes have been produced. However, storage facilities are very limited compared to production. There are only 40 cold storages in the district, with a total capacity of about 460,000 tons. That is, less than a quarter of the total production of potatoes can be stored.

Potato production has been extensive in Sadar Upazila, Mithapukur, Pirganj, Gangachara, Kaunia, Pirgachha, Badarganj and Taraganj of the district. Among them, the largest amount of potatoes has been produced in the Teesta char area of ​​Gangachara Upazila.

According to the Department of Agricultural Marketing, there are currently 461,747 tons of potatoes stored in the district’s cold storage. Of this, only 111,594 tons have been taken out so far, which is less than a quarter of the total stock. Due to low market demand, the tendency to take potatoes out of the cold storage is also low.

Meanwhile, the new season of potato cultivation is scheduled to begin from the first week of October. The potatoes will be available in the market in just two months. As a result, those concerned are concerned that the huge amount of potatoes in the cold storage will rot if they are not sold on time.

According to farmers’ calculations, the cost of producing one kilogram of potatoes at the field level is about 18 to 20 taka. When other expenses including bags, transportation, and cold storage are added, the total cost comes to more than 30 taka. However, currently potatoes are being sold in the market at only 7 to 8 taka per kg, depending on the variety. After deducting the rent of the cold storage and other expenses, the farmer has only about 5 taka in his hand.

Potatoes have been cultivated on about 225,985 hectares of land in eight districts of Rangpur division this year. About 56,68,992 tons have been produced. But only 1,109,692 tons of potatoes have been stored in the division’s 116 cold storages. As a result, farmers have faced huge losses due to the huge potato storage crisis and price drop.

According to the Agriculture Department’s calculations, there has been a loss of about 1,997.44 million taka this year from potatoes stored in cold storage alone.

A visit to various cold storages in Rangpur has shown that potatoes are currently being sold at 7 to 8 taka per kg depending on the variety. However, due to the lack of buyers, there is not much activity in the cold storages; most of the sheds are almost empty.

Rangpur potato trader Md. Mostafa said he cultivated potatoes on four acres of land at a cost of about 8.5 lakh taka. This resulted in a production cost of about 20 taka per kg. Since the price was a bit high at the beginning of the season, he stored 700 sacks of potatoes in a cold storage.

He said, “Last month, I was forced to sell 300 bags of potatoes at 12 taka. But after deducting the cold storage rent of 6 taka 75 paisa per kg, I only got 5 taka 25 paisa. This resulted in a big loss.”

The same picture has been seen at the NN cold storage in Rangpur. About 260,000 bags of potatoes have been stored there, but only 45,000 bags have been released so far.

Tofazzal Hossain, a farmer from Taraganj Upazila, said, “It costs us about 20 taka to produce one kilogram of potatoes. Including the cost of sacks, transportation and other expenses, it becomes more than 30 taka. Yet we have to sell it in the market at 7-8 taka. After deducting the cost of cold storage, we have only 5 taka. So where is the government buying potatoes at 22 taka?”

He said that in this situation, many farmers may move away from potato cultivation next season.

Sirajul Islam, Additional Director of the Rangpur Department of Agricultural Extension, said, “If potatoes are purchased by the government in the Rangpur region, then farmers will benefit to some extent. However, no specific instructions have been received in this regard so far. Farmers are being advised to cultivate potatoes in a planned manner at the field level.”

Experts believe that overproduction, lack of adequate storage facilities, and poor market management create instability in the potato market every year. If government procurement and export opportunities are not increased in a timely manner, farmers may lose interest in cultivating potatoes in the coming season.