News on Potato Prices from Bangladesh

With domestic production down by 1.2 million tons, potato imports have become crucial as political unrest, a government change, and severe flooding further strain the situation.

High input cost and unfavorable weather hit potato output in Bangladesh, with late blight causing added damage.

After Cyclone Michaung, heavy rains caused crop damage, leading to a decrease in supply and subsequent price spikes. Potato prices may remain high until the affected areas recover their potato production capacity.

With national elections scheduled for January 7, 2024, the Bangladesh government has implemented measures to address the alarming surge in potato prices.

Bangladesh Commerce Ministry, in a report, says high prices are the result of price manipulation by a syndicate of cold-storage owners.

Frequent power outages in Bangladesh are driving up the costs of potato storage, ultimately burdening people already struggling with escalating prices of essential food items.

This year, the potato harvest in Bangladesh was about 150% of what the domestic need is. As a result prices have crashed and despite the high yields, farmers suffer as the can not sell their product.

Over the last month, potato prices in Dhaka, Bangladesh have seen large increases, as supplies are tight.

Potato growers of the Thakurgaon district, Bangladesh are worried that they might not be able to recover the production cost due to sudden drop in the prices of the vegetable in the ongoing harvesting season.

In the last fiscal year (FY'16), Bangladesh's potato production hit an all-time-high of 9.47 million tonnes, the latest data showed. However cold storage facilities showed little progress compared to the higher output.

Potato Farmers in Rangpur, Bangladesh are happy after harvesting an all-time record amount of potatoes while getting a lucrative market price in the Rangpur agriculture zone.

In Bangladesh, favourable weather conditions and higher acreage are likely to boost potato yield in the ongoing harvesting season and have already pulled down the tuber's prices, agriculture officials and cold storage operators said yesterday.

Cheaper supplies from China have made Bangladesh's potato less attractive to international buyers, exporters said.

A surge in potato prices has come as a sigh of relief to many farmers who incurred losses as massive production in the past two years has driven down prices. Prices of potato climbed 41 percent to Tk 18-Tk 20 a kilogram in the city yesterday from Tk 1...