Prices of potatoes are still high despite the arrival of new potatoes at markets while traders said inadequate supply of new potatoes contributes to the rise in the prices of both old and new potatoes.
Visiting the kitchen markets in the capital's Malibagh, Moghbazar and Karwan Bazar on Monday, traders were seen selling potatoes at Tk 80 a kg, but old potatoes were being sold at Tk 70 at some places. Potato prices saw a rise of Tk 10 a kg over the past week.
Vegetable trader Md Shipon, from the capital’s Malibagh, told Prothom Alo, “Prices of potatoes were dropping but rains at the beginning of December resulted in low supply, raising the prices. Prices of new potatoes were high for several days at the beginning of the season, but I never saw prices of old potatoes reaching this high.”
People said prices soared after the import of potatoes from India stopped. Potato prices saw the highest rise in the recent past. Besides, the high price of vegetables also contributes to soaring potato prices.
Prices were also high in the production hubs as the retail price of new potatoes was at Tk 70 a kg in Joypurhat on Monday. Potato trader Ashraf Ali, from Joypurhat, told Prothom Alo prices are not falling due to a low supply of early varieties of potatoes, but supply will increase in a couple of days and prices are likely to fall afterwards.
According to Sunday’s price list of the state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), prices of new and old potatoes vary from Tk 60 to Tk 70 a kg. A review of the TCB data shows potato prices increased by 37 per cent in a month and 189 per cent over the past year.
Bangladesh Cold Storage Association president Mostafa Azad Chowdhury told Prothom Alo cold storages have no old potatoes and it is time for new potatoes, but production of early varieties of potatoes was disrupted on high land this year. Otherwise, the supply of potatoes could be abundant and prices could fall, he added.
As the prices of potatoes started soaring last September, the government fixed prices at Tk 35-36 a kg at retail and Tk 26-27 a kg at cold storage. Markets were raided and cold storages were monitored in a bid to check the soaring prices. At last, the government permitted the import of potatoes, but prices did not drop below Tk 50 a kg. Meanwhile, the validity of the import permit (IP) of potatoes expired on 15 December.
According to sources at the Department of Agriculture Extension (DEA), the government issued IP to import 306,000 tonnes of potatoes but, only 60,000 tonnes of potatoes were imported. Currently, the government plans to issue no import permit for potatoes to protect the farmers as new potatoes start arriving in the markets. However, prices are not falling due to inadequate supply.
Data on the production and demand of potatoes in the country varies. According to the agriculture ministry, 14 million tonnes of potatoes were produced in the last season, but the DEA said it was 11.1 million tonnes while the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) said 10.9 million tonnes of potatoes were produced in the last season. However, data released by these three government agencies faced challenges when the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association president said altogether the production of potatoes was 8-8.5 million tonnes in the last season.
According to the agriculture ministry, there is a demand for 8-8.5 million tonnes of potatoes in the country, what the Department of Agricultural Marketing said was 8.9 million tonnes, while the Cold Storage Association said it was 9 million tonnes.