Dhaka: Agriculture and Home Affairs Adviser Lt. Gen. (retd) Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury announced today that the government will procure potatoes to help farmers who are suffering losses due to an oversupply that has depressed prices this year.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the Adviser made these statements during a briefing with journalists at the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) centers located in Gabtoli. During his visit, he highlighted the ongoing tissue culture efforts involving potatoes, pineapples, dates, and various flowers at BADC’s tissue culture center. He emphasized that by developing and distributing seedlings locally, especially for dates, the country could reduce its dependency on imports. Currently, Bangladesh imports potato seeds from countries like the Netherlands at a significant cost, and producing these seeds domestically could greatly benefit the agricultural sector.
In response to questions about the rise in vegetable prices, he attributed the increase to heavy rainfall damaging vegetable fields, which has affected market prices. He assured that the situation would improve once the weather stabilizes. However, he noted that while vegetable prices have surged, potato prices have remained low, causing farmers to incur losses. As a result, the government plans to purchase potatoes directly and has decided to set price levels at cold storage facilities to mitigate the farmers’ financial challenges.
Addressing the issue of jute seed dependency, the Adviser explained the difficulties in producing jute seeds locally. He pointed out that jute seed production is time-intensive and less profitable for farmers compared to multiple rice harvests. Additionally, preserving jute for seed purposes can degrade its fiber quality. Due to limited land availability, meeting the demand for jute seeds with local production is not feasible.
During his visit, Lt. Gen. Chowdhury also inspected BADC’s research centers, cold storage facilities, and other infrastructures. Agriculture Secretary Dr. Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian accompanied him during the inspection.