Bangladesh: Suspend potato imports, cold storage owners

The Bangladesh Cold Storage Association (BCSA) has requested the government to suspend potato imports to protect the country’s farmers from a financial disaster.

In a letter addressed to the commerce ministry dated January 22, BCSA President Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu said that land under potato cultivation increased significantly in 2025, rising by approximately 50 percent year-on-year.

As such, it is anticipated that the production of potatoes will reach 1.20 crore tonnes in 2025.

The letter also mentioned that potatoes are being sold for Tk 13 to Tk 14 per kilogramme (kg) at present although the production cost for farmers is Tk 18 to Tk 20 per kg.

In this situation, if the tuber is imported from abroad, prices will fall further, creating a disastrous situation for potato farmers, the letter said, adding that it would also make farmers reluctant to cultivate potatoes in the future.

This follows a gazette issued on Monday, through which the National Board of Revenue decided to facilitate potato imports, specifically from Nepal and Bhutan, through nine more customs stations.

Previously, potato imports were allowed through only four customs stations.

This facility will remain in effect till March.

Traders pleaded for such an initiative last December, when prices of the tuber reached a record high of Tk 80 per kilogramme amidst the usual drop in stockpiles ahead of the harvest between February and April.

But as potato prices have plunged across the country since then, farmers fear this facility being implemented now will lead to massive losses amid bumper harvests.

The country’s annual demand for potatoes stands between 85 lakh tonnes to 90 lakh tonnes, whereas harvests amount to around 106 lakh tonnes.

In FY24, 1.5 lakh tonnes of the tuber were imported from India.