Potato prices have plunged sharply across Bangladesh due to oversupply, with retail prices dropping to Tk 15–20 per kilogram and cold storage gate prices falling as low as Tk 9–11.
Cold storage owners and farmers said that the market crash has left them counting heavy losses, as the production cost far exceeds the current selling price, about Tk 15-16 per kg.
Meanwhile, the government announced the price of potatoes at Tk 22 per kg at cold storage gates and also pledged to procure about 50,000 metric tonnes of potatoes from farmers to save them from losses.
However, the government failed to procure the amount which led further fall of the potato’s prices at cold storage gates and retail markets.
The country’s potato production in the financial year 2024-25 witnessed a record high of 1.15 crore tonnes at 4.92 lakh hectares of land, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics report.
The overall production of FY25 experienced about a 9 per cent increase from 1.06 crore tonnes of FY24, the data added.
According to the Tuber Crops Research Centre, the annual demand for potatoes in the country is approximately 90 lakh tonnes, with about 10 lakh tonnes used as seeds and 80 lakh tonnes for consumer demand, including the production of chips and processed foods.
Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, president of the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association, told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that about 9-10 lakh MT of consuming potato and 9 lakh MT of seeds potato stocked at cold storages across the country.
‘The government committed to procure about 50,000 tonnes of potato against our request, but so far, they failed to procure the amount,’ he added.
He also said that the government also fixed the price of potato at Tk 22 per kg at cold storage gates, but due to poor monitoring and breaking their decision of procurement, the price further crashed at cold storage gates.
‘The government also promised to provide incentives for the farmers, but they didn’t start providing these yet. Even if they provided the incentives, farmers could have started farming for the new season with hopes,’ he added.
Earlier on August 23, Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, adviser on Agriculture and
Home Affairs to the interim government, said that the government would purchase potatoes this season to offset farmers’ losses, as surplus production has driven prices down.
BCSA urged the government to purchase potatoes from the farmers to include them in various social safety net schemes and rations.
However, so far, government didn’t start procure potatoes from the farmer directly, though the new potato sowing started already. Usually, from September to November, farmers sow potato seeds, and from January to March, they harvest them.
Regarding government’s procurement plan, the reporter couldn’t reach agriculture ministry secretary Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian after repeated attempts for his comment.
However, Trading Corporation of Bangladesh Chairman Brig Gen Mohammad Foyshol Azad told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that he hasn’t any information regarding this and told the reporter to contact other departments.
Meanwhile, an official of the agriculture ministry said anonymously that an attempt was started to procure potatoes, but short after that, it paused due to some ‘invisible’ cause.
He also said that as the new sowing season started, there are little possibility to procure potatoes from the farmer this year.
BCSA president Mostofa Azad Chowdhury said that if the government fulfilled either of the three promises they kept, the farmers might have escaped the heavy losses.
‘If they started procure potatoes from the farmers, the market could have gotten a momentum,’ he added.
According to BCSA, approximately, so far 20 lakh MT potatoes were stocked at more than 350 cold storages across the country.
The new harvesting season might start from December, which could make a complete disaster at the potato markets.
According to the Department Agricultural Extension, the primary production hubs of the country, such as Munshiganj, Rangpur, Bagura, Rajshahi, Naogaon, and Joypurhat districts, experienced a bumper potato harvest this year.
However, the information collected from these districts revealed that the farmers were counting heavy losses as they couldn’t sell the potato at the production costs and a considerable number potatoes started spoiling.
Despite an unstable market and mounting losses from unsold stocks, farmers the mentioned hubs have already started sowing potatoes for fresh cultivation.
They harvest early varieties to capture higher market prices before the main season begins, though this year, the situation is starkly different as farmers were still struggling to sell last season’s potatoes at throwaway prices.
The export of potatoes from Bangladesh was also not in good shape. In FY25, Bangladesh exported potatoes and processed items worth $40 million, said the Export Promotion Bureau, while the DAE stated that Bangladesh exported approximately 62,000 tonnes of potatoes in FY25.
