Potato prices jump as supplies shrink

Consumers in Bangladesh have been paying more for potatoes over the past week, with supplies of the tuber harvested in the previous season running low as the new season approaches.

Additionally, the high profiteering tendency among a section of people in the supply chain is dealing a further blow to consumers who are already reeling from persistent inflation.

Inflation eased in September but is still hovering over 9 percent, as it has been since March 2023, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data. Hand-in-hand, food inflation has remained above 10 percent for six consecutive months since April.

Traders said potatoes are unavailable in the market near the end of the season and that prices go up at this time each year.

The planting season for potatoes runs from October to November while harvesting activities are carried out in February and April.

Mohammad Shipon, a retailer in the Pallabi extension area of Mirpur, said he was selling potatoes for Tk 70 per kilogramme (kg) yesterday, up from Tk 60 a week ago.

When he asked traders why prices had increased, they could not explain, he said, adding that customers often ask him about prices have gone up, but he has no answers.

Yesterday, potatoes were sold at Tk 65 to Tk 70 per kg in kitchen markets in the capital whereas it was Tk 55 to Tk 60 seven days ago, data from the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) showed.

Potato prices have increased 17.39 percent in the past week, 22.73 percent in the past month and 28.57 percent in the past year, the data illustrated.

This year, the potato market has been affected by instability due to the loss of potato seeds for heavy rains and inclement weather at the beginning of the season.

The first blow came in December last year, when incessant rains induced by Cyclone Michaung hit field crops.

Additionally, in April, a fungal disease known as late blight also affected the production of one of the most-consumed vegetables in some areas of Bangladesh.

Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu, president of the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association, said farmers are making a profit of Tk 15 to Tk 20 on each kg of potatoes this year while traders are getting about Tk 10.

"Usually, they don't profit that much. This is why the price of potatoes is so high at the end of the season," he said.

According to the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) office in Bogura, a major potato hub, there are 42 cold storages for potatoes in the district, with a combined capacity of 3. 93 lakh tonnes.

This year, 194,823 tonnes of potatoes were kept in stores for consumption alongside 128,000 tonnes of seed potatoes.

Until October 30, 33,330 tonnes of table potatoes and 63,064 tonnes of seed potatoes were preserved.

An official of the DAM office in Bogura, wishing anonymity, said farmers have mislabelled table potatoes as seed potatoes and kept them in cold storages this year.

"They are withholding potatoes and increasing the price. That is why the price of potatoes is increasing almost every day at the end of the season," the official said.

Masud Karim, director general of the DAM, told The Daily Star that he expected potato prices to drop when new potatoes hit the market in late November.

He added that farmers often harvest crops earlier and sell them if prices are good.

The agriculture ministry estimated the annual demand for potatoes to be around 75 lakh to 80 lakh tonnes.

According to the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association, total production did not exceed 85 lakh tonnes last year although the Department of Agricultural Extension estimated it to be 1.12 crore tonnes.