33 lakh tonnes potato yield likely in Rajshahi

Around 33.42 lakh tonnes of potato are expected to be produced from 1.64 lakh hectares of land in all eight districts of the Rajshahi division during the current Rabi season.

Official data showed the target of producing 13.11 lakh tonnes of potato had been set from 61,590 hectares of land in four districts of Rajshahi Agricultural Zone, while 20.31 lakh tonnes from 1.03 lakh hectares in four other districts of Bogura zone.

Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) has set the target and adopted measures to attain the cherished goal, said Sirajul Islam, Additional Director of the DAE.

Meanwhile, some farmers have started harvesting and marketing early varieties of potatoes. The newly harvested potatoes are appearing in the local wholesale and retail markers with sky-high prices.

“We are purchasing potatoes from retailers and vendors at  Tk 100 per kilogram at present,” said Ambia Ferdousi Khanom, a housewife of Boaliapara in the city.

The farmers are getting lucrative market prices for their produces this season.

Altab Hossain, 54, a farmer of Mougachhi village under Mohanpur Upazila, is preparing to cultivate potatoes on around 170 bighas of land in the Krishnapur area of Tanore Upazila. He has already leased his expected land.

“I had cultivated the cash crop on 110 bighas of land in the same area last season. I had harvested around 8,800 maunds of potato, and my profit was around  Tk 1 crore after selling those,” said Hossain. He’s also very much hopeful about this year’s farming.

Like the previous year, Ershad Mondal, another farmer of the same upazila, had taken preparation to bring around 100 bighas of land under potato farming.

He said the potato is being sold at around  Tk 1,400 to 1,600 per mound, much higher than in previous years.

Many other farmers like Altab and Ershad are taking full-preparations to cultivate potatoes commercially. They have already completed the lease process of the lands much before harvesting the transplanted  Aman paddy.