Dinajpur potato growers hit hard by blockade
The countrywide non-stop blockade enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance that began on January 6 has added to the woes of the potato growers of Dinajpur and Joypurhat districts. They had incurred huge losses due to similar situations last year.
“We are not getting fair prices as buyers from different districts cannot enter the area due to the blockade,” said Azizul Islam of Chehelgazi village in Dinajpur Sadar upazila.
According to the source at Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Dinajpur and Joypurhat districts, at least 83000 hectares of land have been brought under potato cultivation with a production target of 17 lakh tonnes in this season.
During a recent visit to different upazilas in Dinajpur, this correspondent found many farmers leaving their potatoes on the field for spiralling costs of transportation by road due to the blockade.
Mizanur Rahman of Paltapur village in Birganj upazila said like previous year, he sold potato at Tk 6 per kilogram this time.
Despite high demand, the vegetable cannot be sent to other places just for high transport cost due to the blockade, said Rafiqul Islam, a wholesaler of Bahadurbazar in Dinajpur, adding that at least 11 potato-laden trucks came under petrol bomb attacks since January 6.
Azahar Ali, a farmer of Kalai upazila in Joypurhat, who cultivated potato on his four acres of land, said, “I am now selling the vegetable at Tk 160 per maund while it was sold at Tk 480 before the blockade.”
Abdul Hannan and AZM Sabbir Ibne Jahan, deputy directors of DAE in Dinajpur and Joypurhat, said farmers are losing interest in potato cultivation for not getting fair prices.
Considering the current volatile political situation, they suggested the growers to preserve potatoes in cold storages.
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