Demand for stored old potatoes has dropped after newly harvested potatoes have arrived in Rajshahi’s markets. As a result, both farmers and traders are suffering heavy losses as prices of old potatoes have dropped sharply. Many of them describe the arrival of new potatoes as “the final nail in the coffin” for the old stock.
Over the past 20–25 days, the price of old potatoes in cold storage has fallen by around Tk 8 per kilogram. Just weeks ago, potatoes stored in cold storage were selling for Tk 19 per kg. The price of old potatoes came down to Tk 11 per kg due to a lack of buyers. Traders who invested large sums of money to store potatoes are now in dire straits.
Ruhul Amin, manager of Sarkar Cold Storage in Rajshahi, said, “There are almost no buyers for old potatoes now. We still have 13,500 sacks of potatoes lying unsold. Potato traders have incurred huge losses this year.”
Farmer-turned-trader Limon Ahmed from Mohanpur cultivated potatoes on 115 bighas of land last year. The production cost was Tk 22–25 per kg. But he had to sell them for only Tk 12–14 per kg. “After suffering such losses, I didn’t grow potatoes this year. Instead, I tried to deal in potatoes. But as soon as the new crop arrived, I had to count losses again,” he said.
On Tuesday (9 December), he purchased 500 sacks of potatoes from Rahman Brothers Unit-2 in Tanore at Tk 11 per kg—a dramatic fall from Tk 19 just a few days earlier. With no buyers now, he says, traders are facing huge losses.”
Farmer Rana Chowdhury of Chorkhoi village in Tanore’s Kalma union echoes the same. He stored 1,250 sacks of potatoes in cold storage, hoping to benefit from the government’s earlier announcement to buy 50,000 tonnes of potatoes at Tk 22 per kg. “But the government hasn’t bought a single kilogram so far,” he said. Forced by mounting losses, he sold 200 sacks of potatoes at Tk 14 per kg on Monday—only to see prices drop again to Tk 11 the next day.
According to the farmers, the production cost, including cold storage charges, and transport, reaches about Tk 35 per kilogram. With market prices at Tk 11, they are losing Tk 24 per kg. Many have stopped selling potatoes from cold storage in fear of losses.
On Tuesday, old potatoes sold for a maximum of Tk 25 per kg at Rajshahi’s Shaheb Bazar. Meanwhile, prices of new potatoes ranged between Tk 50 and Tk 100 per kg—Tk 100 for red potatoes and Tk 50–70 for white ones. Despite the steeper price, consumer preference has clearly shifted toward the new crop.
The Department of Agricultural Marketing reports that Rajshahi has 39 cold storages. As of Saturday, there was a stock of 44,110 metric tons of old potatoes. Farmers still hope that the government will procure potatoes at Tk 22 per kg.
Shahana Akhter Jahan, deputy director of Department of Agriculture Marketing, said the new potatoes arriving in the market are not yet fully mature. Farmers are harvesting early in hopes of higher prices, which has increased supply and pushed down prices of the older stock. Regarding procurement by the government, she clarified that even though the government has made an announcement on potato procurement at Tk 22/kg, “no notification has been issued yet.”
