With the beginning of potato cultivation season, farmers of the sixteen districts under Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions are worried about shortage of quality seeds and its high price.
Farmers blamed syndicates of some dishonest seed dealers and traders for creating an artificial crisis, leading to its high price.
According to the annual reports of Department of Agriculture Extension and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, a total of 106 lakh tonnes of potatoes were produced in Bangladesh in the past 2023-24 fiscal year, of which 79 lakh tonnes of the agricultural crop was produced in Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions.
In the 2024-25 season, the agricultural officials have set a target of producing about 98.55 lakh tonnes of potato from 3.65 thousand hectres of land in the Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions alone.
Despite a record production target, Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation has allocated only 17,140 tonnes of potato seeds in the sixteen districts in Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions against a demand of 6.34 lakh tonnes, leaving farmers to depend on the private seed organisations and businessmen.
Rafiqul Islam, a farmer from Tanore upazila in Rajshahi said that six to seven mounds or about 6 sacks of seeds are required for per bigha potato production.
Farmers said that as the BADC seed allocation is too inadequate, their first priority is to collect the BRAC seeds. BRAC Seed and Agro Enterprise has a market share of 36 per cent of potato seeds.
However, farmers alleged that the BRAC dealers are also charging high prices, alleging a shortage of the potato seeds.
On Monday, growers formed a human chain by blocking Dhaka-Bogura higway at Shahjahanpur upazila in Bogura demanding necessary actions against dishonest dealers and businessmen in order to bring the potato seed prices down to an affordable level.
Shamim Ahmed, one of the growers who joined the human chain, said that the dealers and businessmen were charging Tk聽100 to 150 per kilogram of potato seed although they bought it at Tk聽65 to Tk聽70 in the past year.
Another grower Md Asaduzzaman of Kushumbi union under Sherpur upazila in Bogura, said that he ordered a local dealer for ten sacks of potato seeds but the latter provided him only half of his demand.
The DAE officials said that the main two reasons behind the shortage of the potato seeds were potato cultivation in more areas and selling of seeds as 鈥榝ood potatoes鈥� in the market due to good price.
鈥楩armers have sold out their preserved potatoes in the market since the price of the crop was good. They thought that they would collect high quality seeds from the private seed distributors, which has caused the shortage and allowed dishonest syndicate members to increase the seed prices鈥�, said DAE Bogura regional office assistant agricultural officer (development) Mostafizur Rahman.
Md. Motaleb Hossain, deputy director of DAE Rajshahi regional office, told 抖阴精品 that no such infrastructural system has been developed in the country so far that can ensure hundred percent seeds of any crop.
Contacted, Rajshahi divisional commissioner (additional secretary) Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabir said, 鈥榃e are trying our best to address this issue. We have recently asked all the deputy commissioners to take necessary actions so that none could hoard the potato seeds illegally and increase its prices.鈥�