In a government move to tame the country’s potato market, a total of 25 tonnes of potato arrived in Bangladesh through Dinajpur’s Hili land port from India on Saturday afternoon.
The government has approved the import of 34,000 tonnes of the potatoes through the Hili port from India, said Harun Ur Rashid, president of the Hili Land Port Importer-Exporter Group, reports BSS.
In continuation of that approval, the first consignment of potatoes entered Bangladesh, said port authority sources.
They said that three more trucks carrying some 75 tonnes of potatoes were expected to reach the country through the port by Saturday.
Earlier, the government had allowed the import of potatoes on October 30, 2023 to control the market when the price of potatoes sharply rose in the country on the excuse of low supply.
The import period was till November 30, 2023. Later, the deadline was extended by another 15 days to December 15, 2023 based on the application of traders. The import of potatoes through the port has been stopped since that day.
Finally, potato-import from the neighbouring country India through the Hili port began again on Saturday.
Price drops in Dinajpur
Due to the influx of potatoes in the country’s market, the price of potatoes came down by Tk 10-15 per kg at retail markets in Dinajpur district, reports UNB’s Hili correspondent.
Md Ifsuf Ali, deputy assistant quarantine officer of Hili Land Port Plant Quarantine Centre, on Wednesday said the government decided to import potatoes to rein in the runaway price.
On the same day, importers of Hili land port applied for permission at Khamarbari in Dhaka to import potatoes, he said.
A total of 49 importers of the port got permission to import 34,000 tonnes of potatoes from Thursday afternoon while the import started on Saturday afternoon, he said.
Shahidul Islam, an importer at the Hili land port, said the price of potato has increased to Tk 40 per kg at retail level, despite the season.
To deal with the situation, the government has decided to import potatoes to keep the market normal in Ramadan, said the importer, adding that the price of potato decreased to Tk 25-30 per kg.
Sources at the land port said that the price of potato went out of control on the pretext of a crisis in the country's market in the previous year.
