Bumper yield, good price bring smile to potato growers
Farmers of Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts are reaping potatoes in a happy mood as the crop that yielded well this season has good prices too.
Traders from different districts have already started buying potato from the fields at prices from Tk 9:30 and Tk 12, depending on the size and quality of the item, while the selling prices at wholesale markets range between Tk 13 and Tk 16.
The farmers have cultivated potato on 21,800 hectares of land in Thakurgaon and 9,505 hectares in Panchagarh district this year, said sources of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE).
The production target -- four lakh 13 thousand 728 tonnes and one lakh 84 thousand 530 tonnes of potato in the two districts, is going to exceed as per hectare yield is 18 tonnes, they said, adding that around 90 per cent of the harvesting has already completed.
Visiting different areas on Thursday, this correspondent saw farmers busy reaping several varieties of potato at Nargoon, Salondar Shingpara, Bhulli and Balia villages in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila and Sathkhamar and Roseya villages in Atwary upazila of Panchagarh.
"I cultivated potato on six bighas of land (one bigha = .3306 acre) and got 470 maunds of potato. I spent Tk 1,20,000 and sold the total produce at Tk 1,74,840 -- making a profit of about Tk 54,840," said Sajjad Selim of Roseya village under Atwary upazila of Panchagarh.
Boytul Islam of Bhulli village in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila said he has got a net profit of Tk 24,955 by cultivating potato on three bighas of land.
Several farmers said they have got good yield of potato this season due to favourable weather and availability of agro-inputs including fertilisers and quality seeds with low prices during the sowing season.
Amid good demand and high prices of potato from different districts, many farmers are selling the item shortly after harvest, instead of preserving it in the cold storages.
Worried about fall in earning, cold storage authorities are now sending their staff to potato growers and traders with offer of reduced fees for potato preservation.
There are 14 cold storages in Thakurgaon and two in Panchagarh district with a total capacity of preserving 1.60 lakh tonnes of potato.
DAE Deputy Director Bhupesh Kumar Pal said smooth supply of agro-inputs along with farmers' sincere efforts have led to the good yield of potato this season.
However, the cultivation area in the two districts this season is a little less than last year's, DAE sources said.
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