Govt to buy 50,000 tonnes of potatoes for Oct-Nov sale
The interim government has decided to procure 50,000 tonnes of potatoes in a bid to safeguard farmers' interests amid falling market prices.
The procured potatoes will be stored in cold storages and sold in the October-November period of 2025, the agriculture ministry said in a press release today.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. In addition, the government has set a minimum selling price for potatoes at the cold storage gate, and it will be Tk 22 a kilogramme (kg).
Potato farmers will be provided with incentives in the upcoming season, the statement added.
After reports revealed that recent potato prices were inconsistent with production costs, the chief adviser instructed the formation of a four-member review committee to address the growing concerns of farmers and ensure their livelihoods were protected.
The agriculture secretary is chairing the committee, which also includes the commerce, food and finance secretaries.
The panel, tasked with recommending measures to guarantee a fair price for potatoes produced during the season, finalised the amount of procurement.
At the beginning of the season, many farmers were forced to sell their produce at the field level for as low as Tk 11 per kg, far lower than the Department of Agricultural Extension's estimated average production cost of Tk 14.
Moreover, in some northern regions, where cultivation costs run higher, production expenses reached up to Tk 20 a kg, according to DAE data.
Bangladesh produced 1.15 crore tonnes of potatoes, the highest in history, in the last harvesting season, according to estimates by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
An expansion of cultivation area and higher yield owing to favourable weather boosted the overall production of the popular vegetable this year, said the BBS.
Farmers grew the tuber on 4.92 lakh hectares in the 2024-25 fiscal year, up 8 percent year-on-year.
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