Farmers start sowing potato to recover losses

Farmers in Dinajpur and its surrounding districts have started cultivating early variety of potato this year with a hope to recoup the losses they had suffered in previous two sessions due to disruption in transportation for blockade and hartals.
Officials at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Dinajpur said they are still to determine the potato farming target for this season.
But last year, around 14.5 lakh tonnes of potatoes were produced on 74,000 hectares of land in Dinajpur, Thakurgaon and Pachagarh districts.
Despite a bumper production the farmers could not market their produce as smooth transportation was not possible due to the frequent hartal and non-stop blockade, enforced by
Jamaat-Shibir and BNP to force the government to call a fresh parliamentary election.   
“The last two seasons had been devastating for farmers. I sold each kilogram of potatoes at Tk1.5, whereas my production cost was Tk7,” said Abdul Jabbar of Maharajpur village in Dinajpur Sadar upazila.
But the affluent farmers, who stored their produce at cold storages, are now getting healthy return as potato price jumped over last few months.
One kilogram of potato is now being sold at Tk30, he said.
But the majority marginal farmers incurred huge losses in last two seasons after their produce perished in the fields, said Azizul Haque of Nasipur area.
Nur Islam said he has cultivated potatoes on 5 acres of land in Ghughudanga village in  Dinajpur Sadar upazila and he is expecting a good price this year.
The farmers in Dinajpur are now busy cultivating potato.
They started farming the highly consumed vegetable in early October and hopefully the harvesting would be completed by the end of November or early December.
Rifatul Islam, a DAE deputy director for Dinajpur region, said they are advising the farmers to cultivate early variety of potatoes immediately after harvesting paddy.

Farmers start sowing potato to recover losses

Farmers in Dinajpur and its surrounding districts have started cultivating early variety of potato this year with a hope to recoup the losses they had suffered in previous two sessions due to disruption in transportation for blockade and hartals. Officials at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Dinajpur said they are still to determine the potato farming target for this season. But last year, around 14.5 lakh tonnes of potatoes were produced on 74,000 hectares of land in Dinajpur, Thakurgaon and Pachagarh districts. Despite a bumper production the farmers could not market their produce as smooth transportation was not possible due to the frequent hartal and non-stop blockade, enforced by Jamaat-Shibir and BNP to force the government to call a fresh parliamentary election. The last two seasons had been devastating for farmers. I sold each kilogram of potatoes at Tk1.5, whereas my production cost was Tk7, said Abdul Jabbar of Maharajpur village in Dinajpur Sadar upazila. But the affluent farmers, who stored their produce at cold storages, are now getting healthy return as potato price jumped over last few months. One kilogram of potato is now being sold at Tk30, he said. But the majority marginal farmers incurred huge losses in last two seasons after their produce perished in the fields, said Azizul Haque of Nasipur area. Nur Islam said he has cultivated potatoes on 5 acres of land in Ghughudanga village in Dinajpur Sadar upazila and he is expecting a good price this year. The farmers in Dinajpur are now busy cultivating potato. They started farming the highly consumed vegetable in early October and hopefully the harvesting would be completed by the end of November or early December. Rifatul Islam, a DAE deputy director for Dinajpur region, said they are advising the farmers to cultivate early variety of potatoes immediately after harvesting paddy.