Woes of Gaibandha potato growers and traders
They incur huge loss due to low price, untimely germination and rotting in cold storages
Women labourers are engaged in sorting damaged and germinated potatoes (inset) at RK Cold Storage at Sadullapur of Gaibandha district. Farmers said their produce got rotten due to power failure and blamed the authorities concerned for their mismanagement.Photo: STAR
Potato growers and traders in Gaibandha district are facing huge losses due to low price of the vegetable coupled with its untimely germination and rotting in the cold storages. Traders who stocked potato at RK Cold Storage in Sadullapur upazila, the lone place providing year-long preservation facility for potato in Gaibandha district, said a portion of the stock has already got damaged due to power failure and alleged mismanagement of the authority. In last year potato growers and traders in the district made good profit as price was Tk 25 to Tk 30 a kg but now it has come down to Tk 14, said Aminul, a small potato trader of Gaibandha Nutan Bazar. Due to last year's good price, local farmers were encouraged to grow potato on more areas of land. Growers and traders stored it in the cold storage with hope to get a handsome profit. But due to unusually low price of the vegetable, they are now worried about recovery of the huge cost for farming and preservation, said Afzal Mia, a potato trader of Sadullapur upazila. Meanwhile, cold storage owners in northern districts recently urged taking delivery of potato stock by November, saying that otherwise they will not take any responsibility of the stock. "This is peak period for lifting potato stocks from cold storage, but at present wholesalers or petty purchasers of potato are hardly seen on the cold storage premises. It is due to low market price of potato," said Sada Pramanik, a stockist of Sadullapur upazila. "I preserved potato worth Tk one lakh at RK Cold Storage last year, but I am yet to lift it due to its price fall. Meanwhile, 30 percent of the stock has already germinated and rotten due to interruption in power supply," he added. Nandan Kumar Saha, another potato trader of Sadullapur said he stored 5,600 sacks of potato in RV Cold Storage with hope to make a good profit, but he is facing huge losses due to low price and rotting of a portion of the stock. Rafiqul Islam, manager RV Cold Storage, said, "We preserved 90,000 sacks (84 kg per sack) of potato last year but a portion of the stock has perished and some of the stocked potato geminated due to frequent power failure. The authority will compensate the stockists for the damage." Most of the potato owners are yet to lift their stock as market price fell abnormally, he added. "In previous years, traders and growers lifted 80 percent of potato stock from the cold storage by October. But this year it is only around 30 percent. Besides, early variety of potato will come to the market by November," said local union parishad member Afsar Ali, also a potato stockist at RK Cold Storage. Major (rtd) Md Jasimuddin, president of Bangladesh Cold Storage Association, said growers and traders will incur huge loss as nearly ten lakh tonnes of potato will possibly remain unsold in the storage this year. He urged the food ministry to include potato in the government's open market sale, vulnerable group development and vulnerable group feeding programmes.
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