Spiralling seed prices shock potato farmers

Dhiraj Roy, a farmer from Maljhar village in Biral upazila of Dinajpur, is reconsidering plans to cultivate early varieties of potatoes on his 50-decimal plot of land as the rising cost of seeds and agricultural inputs is straining his limited budget.

"Each kilogramme (kg) of Çhalisa variety potato seeds now costs Tk 100," Dhiraj lamented as he was looking to stock up on seeds at the Railbazarhat market, the largest wholesale seed market in Dinajpur.

This is a significant increase from last season, when prices hovered at around Tk 60 to Tk70 per kg.

After some bargaining, Dhiraj managed to get the seeds for Tk 5 less than the original asking price. However, he estimates increased seed prices alone will cause him to incur additional expenses of Tk 10,000 to 12,000 this season.

Farmers across the Rangpur division, including in Dinajpur, Thakurgaon and Panchagarh, began cultivating early varieties of potatoes in October, hoping to capitalise on better prices from new-season crops.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), around 1.5 lakh hectares were used for potato cultivation last season, requiring approximately 3 lakh metric tonnes of potato seeds.

While farmers source around 90 percent of seeds from fellow farmers in the country, private seed companies and the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) provide about 10–12 percent.

However, the BADC has not yet started selling seeds, leaving private sector seeds, which have been available since early October, to dominate the market at significantly higher prices.

Seeds that were fetching around Tk 50–Tk 60 per kg at the start of the month now range from Tk 80–Tk 100 per kg.

Nur Alam, a farmer from Dinajpur's Ramdubi village, also noted a sharp rise in prices of the Esterize variety of potato seeds, which increased from Tk 50 to Tk 85 per kg in a matter of weeks.

"This is not a normal market increase; it's shocking to farmers," he said, urging strong regulatory action from local authorities.

Seed-producing farmers pointed to middlemen as the culprits behind the price hikes.

Milon Islam, a seed producer from Biral upazila, mentioned that he was selling granola potato seeds for Tk 54 per kg to wholesalers. Those same seeds are now selling for Tk 80 per kg on the market, he added.

Wholesale trader Mazedur Rahman attributed the rising prices to the high cost of potatoes last year, along with additional expenses for cold storage and labour charges.

As the BADC prepares to distribute 2,800 metric tonnes of potato seeds in five districts of the greater Rangpur area, farmers are calling for government intervention to control seed prices.

These seeds, sourced from BADC's cold stores in Nilphamari and other areas, will be distributed through 820 dealers in Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha and Nilphamari districts.

Of these, 283 metric tonnes are early varieties like Santana and Granola, while the remainder are normal-season varieties such as Asterix and Aluity.

Masud Sultan, deputy director of BADC's Seed Marketing Division, confirmed that 50 percent of the total seed allocation would be distributed this month.

Dealers in Rangpur will collect 1,600 kg of seeds each while dealers in Nilphamari, Gaibandha and surrounding districts will collect 1,480 kg each.

Despite the BADC's efforts, the corporation supplies only 3 percent of potato seeds used in Rangpur, with the remaining sourced through various channels. However, BADC seeds are in high demand due to their reputation for quality.

Farmers are hopeful of swift government action to stabilise the market before the peak potato cultivation season begins in November.

Without intervention, the increasing costs could severely impact their profitability and ability to sustain production, the farmers said.