Potato growers worried over lack of storage

Small and marginal potato farmers in Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts have been left in a quandary as cold storage owners in the region are saying their spaces have been completely filled.

As such, local potato growers are worried about how they will save some of the tubers for sale during the off-season, and to use as seeds for the next season.

Farmers began desperately searching for a place to store their spuds after cold storage operators announced the lack of space as failing to preserve them would lead to increased cultivation costs next season, when they would have to buy seed potatoes from different companies.

While farmers blame a "nexus" between cold storage owners, a section of middlemen and hoarders for the situation, cold storage owners claim they distributed preservation slips on a "first come, first served" basis.

They blamed the situation on the region's low storage capacity compared to its widespread potato cultivation.

Abu Hossain, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Thakurgaon, said growers cultivated the tuber on 27,677 hectares of land against a target of 28,515 hectares with a production target of 679,798 tonnes.

Of the total land being used, 656,999 tonnes of potatoes have already been harvested from 25,492 hectares of land as of Wednesday.

In Panchagarh, farmers produced about 2.18 lakh tonnes of potatoes by cultivating 9,870 hectares of land against a target of 9,950 hectares with the production target of 207,259 tonnes.

However, the 16 cold storages in Thakurgaon can preserve just 1.37 lakh tonnes of potatoes while the six cold storages in Panchagarh can hold a measly 31,450 tonnes.

"The potato production target for this year will be exceeded as the areas witnessed good yield despite facing untimely rain, but storage facilities in these districts are very inadequate," Hossain said.

"If the farmers fail to preserve seed potatoes, cultivation will be hampered next season," he added.

In response to a query, Hossain said growers can get good profit if the authorities concerned take the initiative to export their produce during the harvesting season.

Sazzad Selim, a resident of Rosea village in Thakurgaon's Atwary upazila, cultivated potato on an acre of land to get about 120 sacks of the vegetable weighing 55 kilogrammes each.

"But I am yet to manage space to preserve the potatoes as cold storage owners announced that they would not take any more this season," Selim said.

"If I cannot preserve seed potatoes in cold storage, I will not be able to cultivate the crop next season as buying seeds from companies or traders will cost me a lot," he added.

Amzad Hossain, a local of Chutbathina village in Thakurgaon sadar upazila, said he cultivated one acre of land to get 243 sacks of potatoes weighing 55 kilogrammes each. Of his total harvest, Amzad sold about 120 sacks from the field for about Tk 80,000.

He planned to preserve the rest of his produce to use as seeds next season, and for late sales as prices usually increase after the harvesting period.

"So, I will face two losses if I fail to preserve the potatoes," Amzad said, adding that cold storage owners are only allowing big traders to use their facilities.

Delwar Hossain, managing director of Shahi Cold Storage, said they stored potatoes for people who came first.

Md Abdullah, president of the district cold storage association in Thakurgaon, told The Daily Star that it is not possible to provide space to all as the amount of potato produced exceeds their storage capacity.

Refuting allegations that they prefer to rent space to big traders, Abdullah said they do not consider who is bigger and smaller.  "As per capacity we provide space for preservation on a serial basis," he added.

The Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) has separate cold storages for Thakurgaon and Panchagarh.

About 1,000 tonnes of potatoes can be preserved in the Thakurgaon unit while the storage in Panchagarh can hold up to 2,000 tonnes, said Abdul Hai, deputy director of the BADC office in Rangpur.

Few high yielding varieties, such as Asterisk, Granulla, Sunshine (BADC Alu-1) can be preserved for about three months for consumption or late sale. After the mentioned duration, the tubers start sprouting, Hai said.

Mangalu Barman of Chutbathina village in Thakurgaon sadar upazila said he cultivated potato on one acre of land to produced 350 sacks of the crop weighing 55 kilogrammes each.

He could preserve only twenty sacks of potatoes while the rest was sold for Tk 9 per kilogramme, which was a loss. If he kept the spud in a cold storage for a month or two, he could have gotten higher prices.

Taking advantage of the shortage of storage space, traders and hoarders who booked storage's space earlier are buying potatoes for between Tk 7 and Tk 9 per kilogramme, Barman said.