Northern Bangladesh potato farmers confront severe financial hardship as market prices fall below government recommendations. The Agriculture Ministry established a wholesale floor price of twenty-two taka per kilogram and promised to buy fifty thousand tonnes. Cold storage facilities sell potatoes between twelve and fourteen taka per kilogram while retail outlets charge twenty to twenty-two taka. Farmers spend twenty-six to twenty-eight taka per kilogram on production costs yet receive only twelve to fourteen taka at market. Each kilogram generates losses between twenty and twenty-two taka for growers.
The Rangpur region harvested three point two million tonnes from one hundred eighty thousand hectares, surpassing official targets by twenty thousand hectares. Stakeholders estimate total losses exceed fifty billion taka across the region. Seventy-one cold storage facilities hold seven hundred fifty thousand tonnes while farmers store two point four million tonnes using traditional methods. Hot weather threatens to spoil traditionally stored crops and forces distressed sales. Late November harvests will reduce demand for stored potatoes and worsen financial conditions.
The Rangpur region harvested three point two million tonnes from one hundred eighty thousand hectares, surpassing official targets by twenty thousand hectares. Stakeholders estimate total losses exceed fifty billion taka across the region. Seventy-one cold storage facilities hold seven hundred fifty thousand tonnes while farmers store two point four million tonnes using traditional methods. Hot weather threatens to spoil traditionally stored crops and forces distressed sales. Late November harvests will reduce demand for stored potatoes and worsen financial conditions.
