Cold storage owners worry as 50% potatoes remain unsold

Cold storage owners of Rangpur region have expressed concerns over the fact that nearly 50 per cent of potatoes remain unsold this year due to bumper production and inadequate consumption.

Addressing a view exchange on Friday titled “The Present Context of Stockpiled Potato at Cold Storages and Measures of Potato Preservation in 2022,” they mentioned that the potatoes are currently stored in eighty cold storages across Rangpur division.

The issue has been caused by a drastic fall in local consumption due to the closure of hotels and restaurants throughout Bangladesh as part of the Covid-19 restrictions, they said, adding that exports were also disrupted amid the crisis.

Though the pandemic situation has improved, growers and traders are not taking delivery of potatoes they had stored in cold storages fearing significant losses. They estimate losses reaching up to Tk 1,000 crore if the current stock cannot be sold within the next two months.

At the event organised by the Rangpur Chamber of Commerce & Industries (RCCI), cold storage owners and other stakeholders urged the government to subsidise this sector to help them minimise losses.

RCCI’s Senior Vice-President Azad Chowdhury Babu addressed the discussion as chief guest, and a number of stakeholders spoke on the occasion. Babu is a former president of RCCI and the CEO of Motahar Group of Industries, Rangpur.