Potato price dips below Tk 20/kg amid oversupply

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

Stakeholders blame the government for failing to implement its announced measures, including a minimum cold storage gate price of Tk 22 per kg and a planned procurement of 50,000 tonnes. The fixed cold storage price is not followed, and the procurement of the promised amount was never carried out, leading to oversupply.

According to traders and data from the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), potatoes were sold today at Tk 18-Tk 25 per kg at the retail level, down from Tk 20-Tk 25 last week and Tk 25-Tk 30 a month ago. Compared with last year's Tk 50-Tk 60 per kg, prices have collapsed nearly 61 percent.

At the wholesale level, traders report that prices have fallen to Tk 11-Tk 12 per kg.

Delwar Hossain, a wholesaler at Karwan Bazar, one of the largest kitchen markets in the capital, said, "Potato supply has overrun the market, which is why prices have started to fall.

"For instance, I need one truck of potatoes. But I already have two trucks waiting in front of my shop to take the goods," he explained, adding that he is selling the staple vegetable at Tk 12 per kg.

Mohammad Sabuj, another wholesaler at the same market, said he has been buying potatoes from middlemen in Munshiganj at Tk 11 per kg over the past few days and selling them at Tk 11.66 per kg.

However, his purchase from traders in Bogura, Rajshahi and Rangpur regions cost Tk 12-Tk 15 per kg.

Bangladesh produced a historic high of 1.15 crore tonnes of potatoes in the last harvesting season, according to estimates by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), far more than the nationwide demand of 90 lakh tonnes.

According to estimates by the Tuber Crop Research Centre and the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association, direct consumption accounts for most of it, while 10 lakh tonnes are used for seed and a portion goes into processing chips and crackers. Exports added another 62,000 tonnes in fiscal 2024-25, leaving a surplus piling up in cold storage.

At the beginning of the last season, many farmers were forced to sell their produce for as low as Tk 11 per kg, far lower than the government's estimated average production cost of Tk 14. For farmers in the northern region, however, it was Tk 20 per kg, according to government data. For some, it was even more.

Ashraf Sarker, a farmer in Munshiganj who cultivated potatoes on six bighas of land last season, said, "Last month, I sold potatoes at Tk 9 per kg, even though my production cost was Tk 31 per kg."

He has stopped selling potatoes recently as prices continue to fall day by day. "I still have 12,500 kg of potatoes in cold storage."

"I spent nearly Tk 500,000 last season, but so far have only been able to sell potatoes worth Tk 80,000," Sarker said, highlighting the loss he faces.

To contain the prices and safeguard farmers' interests, the government on August 27 announced it would procure 50,000 tonnes of potatoes in a bid to protect farmers amid falling market prices.

In addition, a minimum selling price for potatoes at the cold storage gate was set at Tk 22 per kg.

However, traders say none of these steps worked.

Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, president of the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association, said, "Currently, around 12 lakh tonnes of potatoes remain in storage, with only about two and a half months left to sell them."

"At present, potatoes are selling for Tk 10-Tk 11 per kg at the cold storage level, far below the government-fixed price," he said.

He noted that although the government had set a cold storage gate price and announced a planned procurement, those promises were not fulfilled.

"Farmers held back potatoes expecting government procurement, but when that didn't happen, stocks piled up. Now, with limited time left, everyone is releasing their potatoes into the market, which has caused prices to fall sharply," he added.

"You can't control prices just by fixing them. When supply is high, prices naturally fall," Babu noted.

Agriculture Secretary Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian couldn't be reached for a comment on the matter over the phone.

However, TCB Chairman Brig Gen Mohammad Foyshol Azad said the government will start buying potatoes from the end of this month.