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Last Sunday (August 26, 2022) the wholesale price of potato per
kg was Tk 16 in the cold storage of Bogra and Joypurhat. But from production to
storage in cold storage, farmers and traders have to spend an average of Tk 19
on one kilogram of potatoes. By keeping potatoes in the freezer, farmers and
traders are losing Tk 3 per kg.
According to the calculations of Bangladesh Cold Storage
Association, more than 5 lakh metric tons of potatoes have been stored in 55
cold storages of Bogra-Jaipurhat. Of this, about 1 lakh metric tons of seed
potatoes.
Remaining about 4 lakh metric tons (1 thousand kg per ton)
of potatoes are kept for sale. Based on last Sunday's market price, the potato
farmers and traders of the two districts are facing a loss of Tk 120 crore (Tk
3 per kg). The amount of loss will also fluctuate due to price manipulation.
Astoric variety of potatoes kept at Saduria area of
Shibganj upazila of Bogra and Balrampur Shah Sultan cold storage were sold at
Tk 1020 per sack (65 kg), Desi Pakri potato at Tk 1400 and Diamond variety at
Tk 1100 last Sunday.
But 1 thousand 110 taka has been spent on each bag from the production of Astoric potato to storage in the freezer. Pakri potato costs Tk 1,500 per bag and Diamond potato costs Tk 1,300 per bag.
Although the price is low in the cold store, on Sunday in
Bogra's Fateh Ali Bazar, Astoric and Desi Pakri potatoes were sold at Tk 30 and
Tk 35 per kg respectively. The price of a 65 kg sack of Astoric potato is 1
thousand 950 taka and the price of Pakri potato is 2 thousand 275 taka. Traders
say that this difference in prices is due to middlemen.
According to related sources, 40 lakh metric tons of
potatoes have been stored this year in 408 cold storages across the country,
including 30 of Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC). About
35 percent of which has been sold till Sunday.
Additional Deputy Director of Bogra Agricultural Extension
Department Md. Enamul Haque said that a record potato has been produced this
year. 11 lakh 21 thousand metric tons of potatoes have been produced in 57
thousand 507 hectares of land in Bogra. The annual demand of potato in this
district is about 4 lakh tons. Out of this, 5 lakh 51 thousand tons of potatoes
are stored in 37 cold storages of the district. The remaining potatoes have
been sent to different districts of the country. But it is less than other
times.
Nazmul Islam, a potato grower of Shibganj's Jhalkhur
village, kept 350 sacks of potatoes in two freezers in Bogra. He said,
"One sack of Astoric potatoes has cost 1 thousand 115 taka for storage in
the freezer." And at the freezer level, the price of potatoes per bag on
Sunday was 1 thousand 30 taka. The loss per bag is Tk 85.
Mozammel Haque, general secretary of Bangladesh Cold Storage
Association, said that in the past years, 50 percent of the potatoes kept in
cold storage usually went to the market by August 20. But this time due to
reduced demand, even half of the potatoes from the cold store have not gone to
the market.
Mustafa Kamal, manager of Himadri Cold Storage, believes
that to prevent this disaster, it is necessary to increase the number of potato
processing factories and take export initiatives.
Biplab Kumar Ghosh, Manager of Kalai Upazila's Punt Cold
Storage, said that the prices of all vegetables are high in the market, only
the price of potatoes is low. The potato market has been fluctuating for two
months. Because of this, frozen potatoes are not selling much. However, due to
electricity load shedding, the cost of potato storage in cold storage has
increased a lot.
|Source: Online/SZK
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