Bumper potato now burden for Naogaon growers
Bumper output of potato in the district could not bring smiles on the growers due to lack of necessary cold storages for preserving the item.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), a total of 24,548 hectares in the district have been brought under potato cultivation this season with a production target of 4.15 lakh metric tones (MTs).
But the growers cultivated potato on 25,360 hectares exceeding the target. So, the farmers are expected to get a bumper output of around 5 MTs, said a DAE official.
There are eight cold storages in the district having a capacity to preserve 30,000 MTs of potato. Two of those are now closed.
Agriculturists said at least 25 new cold storages are needed to preserve the expected output of potato.
Meanwhile, the price of potato has also decreased in the market, forcing the growers to sale their product to the middlemen as they have no alternative way to preserve.
“Two to three weeks ago, per kilogram of potato was sold at Tk 25-Tk 30, but now it stood at Tk 8-Tk 9,” said a worried Marzina Begum who harvested 12 maunds from her field.
She apprehended that the price would fall further when more newly harvested potato appears in the market.
Azahar Ali, another potato grower of Tilakpur village in Sadar upazila, said they are not getting fair price of potato at local bazaars because the middlemen and hoarders are dominating those to make windfall profit.
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