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Thakurgaon potato farmers want optimum price to avert losses


Published : 01 Jan 2020 08:09 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 08:25 PM

After wheat and paddy, the farmers are facing acute losses in potato farming in Thakurgaon. As the supply of old potatoes are still continuing in the market, farmers are not getting fair prices from newly harvested potatoes. They want optimum price from their cultivated potatoes to avert huge losses.   

However, the soil of Thakurgaon is very much suitable for potato cultivation. For that reason, farmers of this area cultivated potatoes two times a year. Potato cultivation use to start first week of the Ashwin month in this area. 

After cutting Aman paddy, advance species of potato is cultivated on that land. According to Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), the target of potato cultivation has been fixed for 30,500 hectare of land. Among this, advance species of potatoes are cultivated on 20,000 hectare of land. From the starting of Monsoon, farmers might face few losses for raining, otherwise overall potato cultivation is up-to the mark, claimed DAE. 

Potato farmer of Baliadanga upazila Nazrul Islam said, “I had to spend Tk 1.20 lakh for cultivating potatoes in two acres of land. I got Tk 70, 000 from 1 acre of land. As potato price is decreasing day by day, lastly I might not recover the capital.”

Potato farmer of Sadar upazila Karim Uddin said, that old verities of potatos are still in the market. So that, demand of new potato is lower in the market. As a result, potato farmers are facing losses.

After visiting the market, it was found that in the last week per mound of foreign potato was being sold at Tk 600 which has increased to Tk 100 to Tk 150 and the present price of per mound potato is Tk 700 to Tk 800. In fact, advanced species of potato had been selling to Tk1000 to Tk1500 before.

Deputy-director of DAE Aftab Uddin said form the starting of the season per kg potato was sold at more than Tk50. In the middle of the season, however the price has reduced to Tk2-Tk4 per Kg.

If potato farmers’ sale potato by preserving in the cold storage they will be gainer in future and bumper yield will be seen soon in the district.