Bangladesh potato farmers struggle despite higher exports and record output
Bangladesh's potato exports have risen by more than 10%, but bigger harvests, swollen storage stocks and high production costs are still crushing farmgate returns.
Higher potato exports in Bangladesh this fiscal year have not brought the relief farmers were hoping for. According to the source, exports reached 52,293 tons by April 29, compared with 47,225 tons in the same period a year earlier, an increase of about 10.7%. Even so, that growth has been far too small to absorb the surplus on the domestic market or to lift farm incomes.
Provisional data from the Department of Agricultural Extension show that potato production this year has reached about 1.17 crore tons, up from roughly 1.15 crore tons last year. That implies an increase of more than 200,000 tons year on year. Official production data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics are still pending. Against that output, annual domestic demand is estimated at only 85-90 lakh tons, while cold stores currently hold 36 lakh tons of potatoes, 1 lakh tons more than a year ago.
Industry participants say the problem is not only the size of the crop but also the structure of the export market. Ferdousi Begum, chair of the Bangladesh Potato Exporters Association, said the country has had a potato surplus since 2007, yet dependable foreign demand remains limited and Malaysia is effectively the main market. Vietnam has recently opened up to Bangladeshi potato exporters, but shipments to Nepal are complicated by July rains that leave potatoes damp during loading and unloading and reduce quality.
Costs are another major constraint. Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, president of the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association, said producing one kilogram of potatoes this year cost about Tk 15 in the northern districts and Tk 19 in Munshiganj. In India, by contrast, production costs are around Tk 10 a kilogram. That cost gap is one reason Nepal is buying from India instead of Bangladesh this season. Babu also said the cultivation of export-quality potatoes remains too limited.
On farms, the crisis is showing up in low prices and growing frustration. Farmer Rafiqul Islam from Bogura said rain damaged his potato crop on 9 bighas of land and that he had still not received assistance despite government assurances. Abdul Motin, a farmer in the Kichak bazar wholesale hub in Shibganj, said the price of the local Pakri variety has dropped by half compared with the start of the season, while surplus supplies are making it hard to sell the crop. Other farmers told the paper they may cut plantings next year to personal-consumption levels or leave potato cultivation entirely.
Retail prices tell a different story. In Dhaka, potatoes are still selling at about Tk 20-25 per kilogram, roughly unchanged from a year earlier. Officials say the government is trying to expand potato processing and exports and wants to build a farmer-card database so planted area can be better aligned with national demand. Agricultural economist Jahangir Alam Khan said the government could also set a minimum procurement price this year and buy at least 10% of total production into storage to help stabilize the market.