Over 40,000 farmers in Munshiganj (District in Bangladesh , see map) have cultivated potatoes this year, beating all records of potato acreage in the alluvial floodplains of the district.
But farmers are daunted by persistent foggy weather in the last fortnight that may cause late blight in the crops.
Growers can hope to recoup last year's output loss if sunlight blesses the sprawling potato fields in the weeks to come.
Following a potato glut in 2007-08 with an output of 92.37 lakh tonnes, farmers suffered a slump in production in the 2008-09 season, when potato output dropped to 67.46 lakh tonnes, pushing its market price up.
Farmers in Munshiganj, a key potato hub in Bangladesh, took up potato farming this year on over 36,670 hectares, almost 60 percent of the district's total cultivable land.
Talking to The Daily Star on Tuesday, traders and growers said they appreciate the government's latest move to cancel earlier plans to allow potato imports from India as the country is headed toward a good potato year.
Against a national average yield of 16.5 tonnes of potato a hectare, growers in Munshiganj produced 30 tonnes a hectare last year.
"We can get an even higher yield of 32 tonnes a hectare this year,” said AKM Aminur Rahman, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Munshiganj
