As the price and demand for potatoes in Bangladesh is very low, the owner of a cold storage facility in Thakurgoan has resorted to a novel approach. Potato farmers and traders in Thakurgaon have not been withdrawing their potatoes from cold storage as they find the prices too low.
A Daily Star report claims that the cold storage owners are concerned about this; the rent they charge for the use of cold storages is based on the value of the stored produce itself. Many are also selling the potatoes stored in cold storage at very low prices.
The storage fees are around 300 taka per sack (3.07 euros) which traders allege are less than what the potatoes can be sold for.
To make the best of a bad situation, Abdus Salam Hawlader, owner of Hawlader Cold Storage, started exchanging 60 kg sacks of potatoes from his cold storage for one litre of milk each. He then distributed the milk among destitute people.
The Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension said there was bumper crop of potato in the country last season, which resulted in the fall in both demand and prices. This year, there was a bumper crop too.
