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Thakurgaon | May 18, 2025 : In Thakurgaon, farmers are facing severe losses as their painstakingly grown potatoes rot due to inadequate storage facilities. Sacks of spoiled potatoes are being dumped into ponds, ditches, and along roadsides.
Mounting debts and financial losses have left farmers in deep distress. They allege that the Agriculture Department has failed to provide any effective guidance or support to address the crisis.
A visit to several unions, including Dholahat, Akcha, and Nargun in Thakurgaon Sadar, revealed that marginal farmers attempted to store potatoes at home or in makeshift sheds to recover production costs. However, within two months, the potatoes began to rot. The lack of space in cold storage facilities has exacerbated the situation, leaving farmers helpless.
Farmers report that producing potatoes on one bigha of land costs between Tk 70,000 and Tk 80,000, but current sales are yielding less than Tk 20,000. With no proper storage options, many have resorted to discarding spoiled potatoes wherever possible, leading to a foul stench that has made movement difficult in affected areas.
According to the Thakurgaon Agriculture Extension Department, 8.5 lakh metric tons of potatoes were produced on 27,000 hectares of land last season. The district has 17 cold storage facilities with a total capacity of only 1.5 lakh metric tons. This year, the production cost per kilogram of potatoes ranged from Tk 22 to Tk 25, but farmers are selling at Tk 14.50 per kg, with spoiled potatoes fetching just Tk 4 per kg. Some farmers are giving away potatoes for free as cattle feed.
Local residents lament that Thakurgaon’s potatoes, once exported abroad, are now rotting within the country due to a lack of storage and export initiatives. Potato traders Khorshed Alam and Abu Rayhan told Dhaka Post that the absence of government intervention in storage and export has led to this dire situation. They urge effective measures to prevent such losses in the future.
Mohammad Mazedul Islam, Deputy Director of the Agriculture Extension Department, stated, “I have no information about potatoes rotting or being wasted. However, we are regularly advising farmers on storage practices.”
AI/MR
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