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Potato production hit an all-time high of 11.57 million tonnes in the financial year 2024-25, though prices also declined to a decade low, according to the latest Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) report.
The FY25 yield was 9.17 per cent up from 10.60 million tonnes in FY24.
A rise in acreage by 35,000 hectares and favourable weather contributed to such a robust output, say officials.
On the other hand, according to the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM), potato prices fell to a record low - Tk 7.0-8.0 a kg - during this year's harvesting season after reaching an all-time high of Tk 75-85 a kg in the retail market in October-November last year.
Traders and cold storage owners now share the same concern as farmers because prices remain low.
Suja Uddin, a farmer in Nilphamari, said potato seed prices were Tk 90-100 per kg during October-December last year, pushing up production costs by 30 per cent to Tk 30,000-35,000 per bigha (33 decimals), including seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, and other expenses.
He said production was good, but prices during harvest dropped to Tk 7-8 per kg, compared to Tk 16-20 per kg in 2024.
Farmers in many areas could barely recover their production costs, he said.
Suja further said half of his fellow farmers in the village might switch to maize farming due to the losses.
Golam Sarwar, leader of the Bangladesh Agricultural Farm Labour Federation (BAFLF), said 90 per cent of potato farmers are small producers who cannot store their crops. They suffered 15-20 per cent losses in 2025, he said.
He also said potato seed prices rose by 30-40 per cent this season due to shortages at the end of the stock.
Besides, he said, affected farmers did not get any kind of compensation from the government.
Farm experts said potato farmers, who faced losses during the January-March harvest of 2025, should be given seeds and fertilisers as incentives to stop them from leaving farming.
Md Ahsanuzzaman Lintu, president of the Bangladesh Agricultural Economists Association, said although potato stocks are currently good, thanks to strong production, the situation might change next season.
He warned that after suffering huge losses, farmers might give up potato farming, which could lead to a volatile market like in 2024.
In 2024, potatoes sold for Tk 50-85 per kg around the year, and the private sector imported 0.2 million tonnes for the first time in Bangladesh's history.
Ahsanuzzaman recommended that farmers be given enough seeds and fertilisers for one bigha of land free of cost, saying such incentives could motivate them to continue farming.
Meanwhile, cold storage owners and large traders bought potatoes in big quantities after prices dropped.
Cold storage owners also raised their storage fees by Tk 1.0-3.0 a kg this year.
Insiders said the business community is now facing the same difficulties that farmers experienced earlier.
The Bangladesh Cold Storage Association (BCSA) recently urged the government to buy potatoes at Tk 25 a kg from cold storage.
It also requested the government to include potatoes in the list of Trading Corporation of Bangladesh's (TCB) subsidised essentials.
In a letter to the commerce ministry, it claimed that potatoes are being sold at Tk 14-15 per kg from cold storage.
It further said per kg potato needs an investment of at least Tk 17, and with electricity and other expenses combined, it reaches Tk 25.
On August 7, a meeting chaired by Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman was held at the ministry.
Officials from agriculture, food, and commerce ministries, as well as potato exporters, traders, and cold storage owners, attended the meeting.
The commerce secretary said there is no budgetary allocation to add potatoes to the TCB's product list.
BCSA President Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu said farmers' problems were not properly addressed at the meeting, which mainly focused on exports.
He said if potatoes were distributed through various government programmes, the extra 1.0 million tonnes stored in cold storage could be sold, benefitting farmers.
Besides, he claimed 90 per cent of potatoes in cold storage belong to farmers, and not selling those would cause losses of Tk 15 billion for storage owners.
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