Due to low production of potato during the last season, its price has increased, but it should not be more than Tk 35-36 per kg at retail level.
A section of unscrupulous traders are making an extra profit of minimum Tk 10 per kg by selling potato at Tk 45-46 per kg in the retail market.
Bangladesh Cold Storage Association (BCSA) made the observation at a press conference held at its office in the capital on Sunday following an upward trend in potato prices.
BCSA has claimed that the country produced maximum 8.5 million tonnes of potato in the fiscal year 2022-23, but Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said it was 11.2 million tonnes.
BCSA President Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu admitted that traders, who stored potato in cold storage, were behind the volatility in the potato market.
Prices of stored cardinal and diamante varieties of potato have increased up to Tk 50-60 per kg in the city, a 40 per cent hike within two months and 61 per cent than that of a year ago, Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) said.
Prices of seed potato also jumped to Tk 70-90 per kg, up by 45-50 per cent from one year back, raising concern among farmers, according to Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM).
The commerce ministry directed the BCSA to submit the data on potato storage for the last three years amid its price volatility.
Mostafa Azad Chowdhury said that the demand for potato in Bangladesh is 9.0 million tonnes. “If we take into account the official data, we should have 2.2 million tonnes of potato in surplus.”
He presented a paper at the press conference saying that 20 per cent of cold storage space was empty. “If we had a surplus why did our capacity remain unused?'' he questioned.
When sales started from the cold storages on May 20, the price of potato was Tk 26-27 a kg, he said.
It was later raised to Tk 34-36 a kg by the traders which was not fair and they should be brought under scrutiny by the National Board of Revenue (NBR), he added.
He further said the traders who raised prices think that the stock of potato is not enough.
The association leaders said that their members stored 2.31 million tonnes of potato in 2023 which was 2.4 million tonnes in 2022.
However, the DAE claimed that potato production was 11.2 million tonnes while Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics said it was 10.4 million tonnes.
