A severe shortage of cold storage facilities has left potato growers in the northern districts struggling to manage a space for their produce, with the price of the cash crop dropping to Tk聽10 a kilogram on the local wholesale markets on Friday.
Farmers feared that a spell of rain on Thursday and Friday worsened the situation as it would cause the potatoes to rot in fields if not collected and sold or stored immediately.
The Rajshahi Meteorological Office recorded 5.4 millimetres of rain in the past 24 hours ending at 2pm on Friday.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, farmers had cultivated potatoes on approximately 50,000 hectares more than the estimated area this season in the sixteen districts of Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions as the potato prices were favourable in the past season.
Agriculture officials estimated that about 103 lakh tonnes of potatoes would be produced in the Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions this season compared with 106 lakh tonnes produced nationwide in 2023-24.
Although the potato acreage and production have increased significantly, the number of cold storages remains the same, leaving potato growers struggling for a space to store their crops.
According to DAE officials, there are 221 cold storages in Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions in which about 22 lakh tonnes of agricultural produce can be stored.
This year the fare for preserving one kilogram of potatoes in the cold storage has increased to Tk聽6.75 from Tk聽4 in the past year.
Potato growers said that now they neither could sell their produce from their fields due to a lack of buyers nor could store them due to a lack of enough cold storages.
Sikander Ali, a farmer from Nandigram in Bogura, told 抖阴精品 that he had harvested potatoes on three bighas of land this season and the yield was good.
鈥楢fter harvesting the potatoes, I have kept the crop at the back of my house as there is hardly any buyer to buy the harvest,鈥� he said, adding that the small-scale growers like him were not given priority over the large-scale growers and traders in providing storage facilities.
Sikander said that since he had no other option, he would sell the potatoes even at huge losses.
Rahidul Alam, a farmer from Tanore in Rajshahi, told 抖阴精品 that after failing to manage a place for storing potatoes, he wanted to keep the potatoes unharvested in his field for several more days.
鈥楤ut I had to harvest the potatoes on Thursday hurriedly due to rain. All the crops will be rotten if not collected immediately,鈥� he added.
Another farmer, Masud Rana, said that he booked a space in a local cold storage in advance for storing his potatoes, but the cold storage owner had recently informed him that no storage space was left in his facilities.
Masud feared that the rain spell would cause the prices of potatoes to go down further in the coming days.
Long queues of vehicles carrying potatoes were seen in front of several cold storages at Tanore and Paba upazilas in Rajshahi on Thursday and Friday, as the farmers who booked spaces earlier rushed the storages for keeping their produce.
Monjur Rahman, a farmer from Tanore, who cultivated potatoes on 100 bighas of land, told 抖阴精品 that it had become a struggle for them to store their produce in the cold storages as it took time to weigh potatoes and put those in the storages.
鈥業 booked spaces in a cold storage for my potatoes several months back. I am hopeful of storing all of my produce,鈥� he said, adding that the costs for transporting potatoes to the storage facilities from the fields doubled as the vehicles carrying the crop had to stand for hours in queues before entering the storage.
Many farmers alleged that they had to return with their loaded vehicles back home after authorities declared their storage facilities were full.
Dulal Hossain, a farmer from Raipur village in Bogura Sadar upazila, said that even after waiting for hours at the cold storage gate, he was unable to store his sacks of potatoes in the facilities.
鈥楾he cold storage authorities have announced that they can no longer accept potatoes as they have reached full capacity,鈥� he added.
Abu Bakkar, president of the Rajshahi Cold Owners鈥� Association, told 抖阴精品 that his cold storage was full one month earlier. 鈥楶otato growers will incur huge losses this season due to a price fall of the crop and a lack of adequate cold storages,鈥� he said.
Azizur Rahman, additional director of the Rajshahi divisional DAE office, told 抖阴精品 that they were aware of the farmers鈥� plight.
鈥榃e have already contacted the ministries concerned and urged them to set up more cold storage facilitates in the region,鈥� he added.