News on Potato Cultivation from Bangladesh

Potato prices across Bangladesh have plunged below BDT 20 (USD 0.18) per kilogramme from BDT 25 (USD 0.23) a month ago, leaving farmers reeling from losses even as the government struggles to contain the market glut.

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

With domestic production down by 1.2 million tons, potato imports have become crucial as political unrest, a government change, and severe flooding further strain the situation.

High input cost and unfavorable weather hit potato output in Bangladesh, with late blight causing added damage.

Frequent power outages in Bangladesh are driving up the costs of potato storage, ultimately burdening people already struggling with escalating prices of essential food items.

Potato exports from Bangladeshi farmers supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) continue to grow, as producers came together recently to celebrate another year of success.

The annual demand for potatoes in Bangladesh is about 9 million tons. The Bangladesh Cold Storage Association (BCSA) urged the government to provide a BDT 9 (USD 0.11) subsidy per kilogram of potato stored in various cold storages in the country.

Facing excess potatoes, the government of Bangladesh has decided to provide all sorts of support for both export and processing

Potatoes produced by contract growers of the Bangladesh Agricultural Corporation (BADC) are now being exported to Malaysia.

Bangladesh targets potato production of over 4 million tons just for the Rangpur division

This year, the potato harvest in Bangladesh was about 150% of what the domestic need is. As a result prices have crashed and despite the high yields, farmers suffer as the can not sell their product.

Potato growers of the Thakurgaon district, Bangladesh are worried that they might not be able to recover the production cost due to sudden drop in the prices of the vegetable in the ongoing harvesting season.

At Potato Europe, Dutch traders have shown their strong interest to invest in potato farming in Bangladesh aiming to increase the production.

Cold storage operators in Bangladesh said between 15 and 20 lakh (2 million) tonnes of potato will remain unsold by the end of the year because of sluggish demand.

In the last fiscal year (FY'16), Bangladesh's potato production hit an all-time-high of 9.47 million tonnes, the latest data showed. However cold storage facilities showed little progress compared to the higher output.