Bangladesh: Potato farmers in Rajshahi lament as prices plummet amid lack of storage

Mamun Or Rashid, a farmer from Amsho village in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, cultivated potatoes on 17 hectares of leased land, yielding 6,000 sacks, each weighing 70 kg. He stored 700 sacks in cold storage, but due to limited space, he had to keep the remaining sacks in his garden. As the potatoes began to spoil, Mamun sold them at approximately US$0.10 per kg, despite a production cost of around US$0.23 per kg. "I will face a loss of about US$72,000 by selling potatoes at this rate," he stated. Mamun explained that cold storage could have preserved the potatoes, but the facilities were unwilling to accept more.

Other farmers in Rajshahi are facing similar problems, with market prices falling below production costs. According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DoE) in Rajshahi, 38,000 farmers produced 1 million tons of potatoes this year, but only 450,000 tons were stored in cold storage. Potato cultivation increased by 35,000 tons compared to last year. The DoE reported that production costs, including land lease, reached about US$0.20 per kg, while farmers are receiving only US$0.11 per kg in the market—resulting in a loss of US$0.09 per kg.

Another farmer, Kamal Uddin from Mohor village, sold his entire harvest at US$0.09–0.10 per kg due to the lack of cold storage. Kamal, who has years of experience in potato farming, said he had never seen such high production costs combined with such low selling prices. Increasing expenses for land leases, fertilizers, seeds, and pesticides have made it difficult for farmers to remain profitable.