Early variety farmers face losses as old potatoes dominate market

Infograph: TBS

Highlights 

• Farmers get Tk10–12 per kg for potatoes, below production cost.
• Old stock in cold storage is keeping prices low.
• Many farmers are not harvesting due to losses.
• Government incentives promised but not delivered.
• Cold storage owners also facing losses.

Although the new potato season has begun, a significant supply of old potatoes is still present in the market. As a result, prices of new potatoes have dropped abnormally this year. 

In the capital, new potatoes are selling for Tk25–30 per kilogram, while at the farm level prices are only Tk10–12 per kilogram—lower than production costs.

Farmers and cold storage owners said surplus potatoes from the previous season are still stored in cold storage facilities. Because of this, even though new potatoes have entered the market, farmers are not getting prices comparable to other years and are instead incurring losses.

Farmers said that early varieties of potatoes are planted from mid-October to November. These are harvested within 65–75 days and sold as new potatoes. Currently, production costs for early potatoes stand at Tk15–17 per kilogram, but farmers are selling them at Tk10–12. Many farmers are not even harvesting mature potatoes due to poor prices.

Jahangir Hossain, a farmer from Kalibala area of Bogura Sadar, cultivated potatoes on 45 bighas of land this year, nearly half of which were early varieties. He told TBS, "Early potatoes are playing tricks on us this year. Cultivating one bigha of early white potatoes costs at least Tk35,000. Production is a maximum of 60–65 maunds per bigha. At the field level, potatoes are selling at Tk400–500 per maund. Even production costs are not being recovered."

Explaining why he has not harvested yet, he said potatoes usually need to be harvested within 70 days of planting, but his crop has crossed 75 days. "I haven't harvested yet due to low prices. After this, I need to cultivate paddy," he added.

Another farmer from the same area, Abdul Momin, cultivated early potatoes on 11 bighas. He said early potato farmers are now panicking as prices continue to decline. "Today at Mohasthan, the largest wholesale market in the north, white potatoes (variety 7) sold at Tk600 per maund, while traders are buying from farmers at Tk10–11 per kilogram. Prices have fallen further compared to the last two days. Early potato cultivation has pushed us into losses this year."

Farmers are also incurring losses on Pakri varieties. Ashraful Islam, a farmer from Phulbari in Bogura, cultivated Romana Pakri potatoes on three bighas. He sold potatoes a week ago at Tk1,000 per maund. He said production of this variety is slightly over one maund per decimal, meaning 30–33 maunds per bigha. "I sold potatoes worth Tk30,000–33,000 per bigha, but costs for fertiliser, pesticides, labour, and other inputs exceeded that. If farming doesn't generate income, how will we run our households? We have no other source of income."

According to the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association, cold storages usually become empty by November. However, even after January began this year, nearly 1 lakh tonnes of potatoes remain stored. Since 15 December, neither farmers nor traders have come to withdraw potatoes. At that time, around 5 lakh tonnes were in storage.

Parimal Prasad Raj, owner of Arabi Cold Storage, said some cold storages still hold old potatoes, which is keeping new potato prices low.

Association president Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu told TBS, "Farmers and traders are not harvesting potatoes because the money they would earn from selling them is less than the cold storage rental cost. As a result, many cold storage owners are also facing losses. Ideally, there should be no potatoes left in storage at this time, but unfortunately, potatoes are still there."

Government response limited to assurances

After farmers suffered losses last year, there were concerns that potato cultivation would decline this season. To prevent that, the agriculture ministry announced incentives from November to encourage farmers.

Over the past two months, the agriculture adviser has repeatedly spoken about these incentives in the media. However, farmers have yet to receive any incentive or subsidy.

Earlier, in August, the government announced it would procure 50,000 tonnes of potatoes to stabilise prices amid surplus supplies, but the plan was never implemented.

Stakeholders believe that announcing incentives without timely implementation only harms farmers further, as cultivation has already taken place. Had incentives been provided earlier, farmers would have been encouraged in advance.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), farmers cultivated potatoes on around 4,65,000 hectares this year, of which potatoes from 16,000 hectares have already been harvested, producing approximately 2,50,000 tonnes. By comparison, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics reports that potatoes were cultivated on 4,96,000 hectares last year.

Mostafa Azad Chowdhury said the agriculture ministry held a meeting with them on 30 December and promised incentives for potato farmers. "But what good is an incentive now? We warned the government in September that farmers would face losses without incentives. Even in January, they still haven't made a decision. Earlier, the government announced procurement in August but didn't buy potatoes from farmers, which worsened the crisis. The government has failed to take any effective decision to protect potato farmers."

Bogura DAE Deputy Director Sohel Md Shamsuddin Firoz said lists of eligible farmers under various categories have been submitted to the ministry, and many farmers are expected to receive assistance.

DAE Director General SM Sohrab Uddin told TBS that the incentive programme for potato farmers has progressed significantly and is expected to begin soon.

Asked how much benefit farmers would receive if incentives are provided now, he said priority would be given to those who cultivated potatoes both last year and this year. "The incentives are mainly meant to help farmers who incurred losses last year recover part of their losses," he added.