Potato producers have come together to inaugurate this year’s exports in a sign of the country’s continued success in selling potatoes abroad.
The success of this initiative is due to a partnership between the Sara Bangla Krishak Society (SBKS), a national network of farmers’ organizations, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), under the ‘Missing Middle Initiative’ project, a press release said on Sunday..
Four potato producer cooperatives joined the inauguration in Pairabandh, Mithapukur – the third annual inauguration in a row.
Guests included Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Sayedul Islam, and Director-General of the Department of Agricultural Extension Benojir Alom. Private sector exporters and other government extension agency representatives joined as well.
Farmers from the northern region of Rangpur have been producing export-quality potatoes by using ‘good agricultural practices’ (GAP), a collection of principles for safe and healthy farming and processing.
The project provided GAP training to 100 farmers from four cooperatives. More than half of the farmers were women. The farmers also received pre-production, inspection, and post-harvest assistance.
FAO organized a pre-season buyer-seller meeting for officials from the Bangladesh Potato Exporters’ Association (BPEA) to meet smallholder potato farmers.
Officials from the BPEA liaised with foreign buyers to get specifications and orders. As a result, the potato producers have grown 450 metric tons of Santana potato, a high yielding Dutch commercial variety.
The producers were also able to procure seeds from the exporters at an affordable price. They also grew Diamant, Cardinal, Granola, and Asterix varieties which are in high demand in Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
“Bangladesh has a lot of potential to grow commercial and export varieties of potatoes and we are working closely with the Ministry of Agriculture to boost potato exports in order to strengthen food security and increase incomes for farmers and farming communities,” said Robert D Simpson, FAO representative in Bangladesh.
