Potatoes sold at Tk400 per kg in Dinajpur!

Prices of advanced variety potatoes witnessed an unusual hike in a Dinajpur kitchen market on Thursday thanks to Nobanno Utshab, a traditional harvest festival of new rice, food.

This advanced variety of potatoes were seen selling at Tk400 per kg at the railway bazar in the district on the day before the festival. It is as surprising as it is unbelievable.

New potatoes have not hit the market yet. It needs 20-25 more days for these potatoes, sellers and buyers said.

Hindu community people are set to celebrate Nobanno Utshab on Friday, the first day of Agrahayan as per the Bangla calendar. On the day, they offer their Lord everything new. Along with new rice and payesh (a sweet dish), and curries are also made from the new crop.

Two vegetable vendors – Surya and Tia – brought a total of 15 kilograms of the season's new potatoes to the market.

Moreover, the kitchen market also saw price hike of ol kochu (Elephant Foot Yam) and sojne data (Moringa oleifera) as new vegetables of the season.

After learning about the selling of potatoes at Tk400 per kg, this correspondent also visited the railway market in the afternoon and talked to some buyers and sellers to know the details.

Prakash Sarkar, who came to buy potatoes in the railway market, told TBS that Nobanno is observed with all the new ones. These potatoes hit the market as a new vegetable of the season. So, sellers are selling those at Tk400 per kg.

To offer "bhog" to the God, we have to buy those at a hiked price. That means we can buy one kg of mutton for the price of 2 kg of potatoes," he added.

Another buyer Saurav Adhikari said, "I have been looking for new potatoes in the market for a few days. Today potatoes hit the market and I bought 100 grams of potatoes for Tk40."

Vegetable seller Tia said, "I bought this potato from the farmer at a higher price. New potatoes are very scarce in the market during Navanna. So the vegetable is a bit more expensive."

Not only potatoes, as new vegetables, ol kochu was sold at Tk250 per kg, sojne data was sold at Tk260 per kg, he added.

Another vendor Surya said, "I bought 10 kg of new potatoes for Tk240 per kg from a wholesaler and sold it for Tk350 per kg."

As new vegetables have to be offered to the God, so some buyers bought 100 grams, and some bought 200-500 grams, he added.