Unsold potatoes pile up in Joypurhat cold storages amid price slump

Potato growers and traders in Joypurhat’s Kalai upazila are facing mounting financial losses as a steep decline in prices following a bumper harvest has forced them to keep large stocks in cold storages.

According to farmers, production and post-harvest costs amount to around Tk1,050 per 60-kg sack, while the cold storage charge adds another Tk360, bringing the total cost to around Tk1,410. Currently, traders are offering only Tk860-870 at cold storage gates imposing a loss of around Tk540-550 per sack.

According to the Kalai Upazila Agriculture Office, around 273,000 tonnes of potatoes were produced on nearly 12,000 hectares of land in the upazila this season. Of the total, around 151,000 tonnes have been stored in 14 cold storage facilities.

So far, only around 32% of the stored potatoes have been taken out, while the remaining 68% are still in cold storage as farmers and traders are reluctant to sell at the prevailing low prices.

Abdul Mannan, a potato trader from the Nishchinta area, said he borrowed money from a bank and stored around 24,000 sacks of potatoes. “I spent around Tk1,410 per sack. If I sell them at Tk860-870, I will lose Tk540-550 per sack. My potential loss will be around Tk1.30 crore,” he said. “Instead of repaying the bank loan, my debt is increasing every day. On top of that, I have to pay the cold storage charges,” he added.

Mahbub Hossain, a farmer from Anora village, has around 13,000 sacks of potatoes in storage. He estimated his potential loss at around Tk70.20-71.50 lakh at the current market price.

In contrast, cold storage owners, however, said the Tk6 per kg charge is not pure profit as they have to bear substantial costs for electricity, labour, machinery maintenance and generator fuel. Raihan Hossain, manager of M Ishrat Cold Storage, said the storage charge had been reduced by 75 paisa from last year to Tk6 per kg. “If potatoes are not taken out on time, it will become difficult to meet operating expenses, including electricity and labour costs,” he said.

Biplob Kumar Ghosh, manager of Punat Cold Storage, said they had to operate generators during load shedding to maintain the required temperature. “Diesel for generators is costing us around Tk50,000 extra every day,” he said. He called for urgent measures to increase potato exports and improve market management to protect farmers from further losses.

Engineer Md Jobayer Ali Basuniya, deputy general manager of Palli Bidyut Samity of the Kalai Zonal Office, said prolonged outages were forcing cold storage owners to run generators, increasing their expenses. “However, we are making every effort to maintain normal power supply to important facilities, including cold storage facilities,” he added. Kalai Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Harunur Rashid said bumper production had created supply pressure in the market, pushing prices down as supply exceeded demand.