Competitive international position of potatoes from Bangladesh

Ahiyan Impex Ltd. is a Bangladeshi exporter and importer of agricultural products which ships potatoes to various international destinations, including Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Dubai or Bahrain, and with interest to expand in Russia, despite some initial phytosanitary issues.

Jahir Uddin Ahamad, chairman of the firm:

“Our harvest season lasts from November to March and our potatoes are then kept in cold storage, which allows us to supply them all year round.”

Despite some recent talks about the quality of the Bangladesh potato seeds not being up to the right quality standards, Ahamad, a member of the Horticultural Exporters Association of Bangladesh, assures that this year, the government has organized seminars to help the farmers produce in the most scientific way.

Jahir Uddin Ahamad:

“Initially, seeds of the Diamond variety were imported from the Netherlands, and then our scientists worked on it and developed our own potato seeds.”

He said that Bangladesh now has 49 different potato varieties, but Ahiyan Impex exports mainly Granola and Lady Rosetta, with Lady Rosetta being suitable for potato chips.

With regards to the country’s total production volume, Ahamad affirms that a figure of 10 million MT was reached last year, and even though this figure is expected to increase in 2016, the volume of export quality potatoes (Granola and Lady Rosetta) will decrease this year, as growers were not satisfied with the financial results achieved, so they preferred to go for the Diamond which is very famous in Bangladesh.

Ahamad expresses his interest in attending international events, such as Potato Europe 2016, to be held in September in France, in order to showcase the product.

When it comes to prices, Bangladesh is certainly in a very competitive position in relation to other producers, like Pakistan or Israel.

Ahamad concludes:

“We can supply quality potatoes at a minimal price, especially before they are stocked, during the harvesting time.”