Potato prices jump despite bumper yield

Despite a bumper yield of potatoes, consumers are not being able to reap the benefits due to a five-year record hike in the retail prices of the vegetable.

Farmers and officials say causes behind the hike are the damage of stocks at in-house stores and the rising demand due to the shortfall in vegetable supply caused by floods.

They also blamed it on increased cold storage rent along with transportation and labour costs.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), 1.1 crore tonnes of potatoes were produced this year. Till May, 76,000 tonnes potatoes were exported.

On the other hand, the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association said the annual demand of the vegetable is about 80-85 lakh tonnes in Bangladesh. Meanwhile, they can store only 40 lakh tonnes in their 400 storages. Of these, 32 lakh tones are potatoes ready to be sold, while the rest are intended for replanting.

Nurul Amin Talukder, a farmer in Rangpur Sadar, who has been growing potatoes for the last two decades, said farmers and businesspeople have started selling potatoes from cold storages.

"Usually, farmers sell potatoes from their in-house storages till June. This year, their stocks ran out by May," he said.

Eosub Ali, a farmer in Rangpur's Sathmatha, harvested a good amount of potato on eight acres of land.

As the price wasn't satisfactory, he kept 180 sacks of potatoes in cold storage and the rest at his own storage.

However, almost half the potatoes in his storage rotted due to tuber worms, he said, adding that he had taken measures in this regard but still could not save his potatoes.

Farmers of the region said many of them faced similar losses.

While potatoes sold from the cold storage cost between Tk 18 and 20 per kg, they are being sold at Tk 35 to Tk 40 in the capital's kitchen markets.

Mozammel Hoque Choudhury, secretary of Bangladesh Cold Storage Association said they are sold at higher prices once they reach the capital due to other added expenses including transportation and packing.

At the different retail markets in Dhaka, potatoes were being sold at Tk 30-40 per kg, while at the wholesale market, they were Tk 28-30.

According to date by the Department of Agriculture Marketing (DAM) and Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, potatoes were sold at Tk 30 on June 28, 2020, at a time when the country was dealing with the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2018, the price was Tk 25.

While people were already grappling with the price escalation of daily commodities due to the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, the new hike in potato prices comes as a fresh blow.

Consumers usually experience an upper trend in the vegetable production during the monsoon. However, devastating floods in the north this year have caused much damage.

Shahina Begum, a housewife, was buying vegetables from the capital's Tejturi bazar. "All vegetables are above at least Tk 60 per kg. Only potatoes were cheaper. However, just a week ago they were Tk 25. Now, they ask for Tk 35," she said.

Jony, a shopkeeper in the capital, said as many productions of vegetables were hampered due to the floods, people are looking to buy more potatoes. "However, I bought potatoes from the wholesale market at Tk 20 per kg just a week ago. Now it is Tk 30."

Contacted, DAM's Director General A Gaffar Khan said potatoes lose their weight when preserved in cold storages, therefore the price hikes are not unlikely.

"Farmers are now getting good prices. This will reduce their losses and encourage them for future cultivation."