Potato farmers feel blockade pinch

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Munshiganj potato farmers face a tough time this winter as seed prices have almost doubled because of frequent blockading of ports, roads and railways by the 14-party alliance since October. Seeds are also difficult to get.

“We bought a 50 kg box of imported seeds at Tk 5,500-6,000 compared to Tk 3000-3500 per box last year”, said Mohammad Afazuddin, a farmer in Atpara union of the district.

Farmers have had to resort to moving from door to door to find seeds. They have also been forced to pay whatever price was required for quality seeds, according to sources said. The price of imported seeds, however, fell drastically at the end of the 20-day sowing period, which lasts from mid November to the first week of December, the farmers said.

The Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) supplied 18,750 tons of seeds, which makes up fifty per cent of the districts total requirements. The remainder are imported from abroad. A syndicate of 20-22 importers import potato seeds from mainly the Netherlands who have this year charged exorbitant prices.

The BADC has no potato seed farms in the district and most of the seeds come from Northern districts like Rangpur, Dinajpur and Kustia. The transport of local seeds was also hampered this year due to road, rail blockade programme, the farmer said. Although the district produces 40 percent of the total potatoes produced in the country, it also lacks adequate preserving facilities and seed producing farms.

Considering that the price for potatoes in 2006 was the highest in 30 years, farmers were extremely enthusiastic about cultivating potatoes this year, with the expectation of a good profit. Talking to journalists from numerous national dailies on Sunday, the potato farmers in the Munshiganj district said they had cultivated more land this year than in previous years in the hope for a good price. Yet the scarcity in potato seeds has frustrated farmers efforts to produce a large yield.

“This years potato price was the highest it has been in the last 30 years, as we sold it at Tk 500 per mound,” Afazuddin said. “But to recover the losses from previous years, we need a good price for at least another five years”, he pointed out. “Earlier, farmers never got more than Tk 300 by selling per mounds potato”, Abdus Sobhan, another farmer from the Munshiganj district who cultivates potatoes on a three-acre plot said.

Notwithstanding a scarcity in seeds, potato production has increased in the Munshiganj district in 2006. “Potatoes are normally cultivated on 30,530 hectares of land in the Munshinganj district, however this year at least another 1,000 acres of land came under potato cultivation,” said Jatindra Chandra Modak, deputy director of Munshiganj district department of agriculture extension. Government officials in the department of agriculture extension told journalists that all the low lands in the districts came under potato cultivation this year. As a result, hardly any low arable land remains after this year’s sowing season, Jatindra observed.

Munshiganj produces around 40 per cent of the Bangaldesh’s total potato production and the average potato yield in the district is well over double the national average per hectare. The average potato production in the district is 27.70 metric tons per hectare against national average of 11-12 tons, they said. More than 50 per cent of arable land in the district goes under potato cultivation, agriculture extension sources said.

There are also concerns that farmers are overusing fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides to maximize production. Government officials claim that farmers cultivating potatoes on a commercial basis are paying little heed to suggestions for a reduction in chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

The DAE deputy director said that they have promoted a widespread information programme among farmers, advocating a reduction in the use of fertilizers to ensure maintaining soil quality. This year 2,000 farmers were given special training about the danger in using chemical fertilizer in potato farming, he said.

The main advantages of the district in potato farming is low land, heavy silting during monsoon and suitable weather condition, Modak said.

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