Potato farmers are facing an acute seed crisis as they have not stored any seed, failing to get the yield’s fair price in Joypurhat last year.
According to the local agriculture extension department, it requires 55000 tonnes of potato seeds for cultivation on 39500 hectares of land in the district while only 45000 tonnes of seed have been preserved in all 14 private cold storehouses there.
Many farmers cannot depend on the locally preserved seed amount and so they are depending on the dealers for collecting quality seeds.
Taking advantage of it, local dealers have increased seed prices at will. Prices of seeds are now almost double to what it was in the last year.
Farmer Abdul Alim from Railgari village in Khetlal upazila said he had decided to grow potatoes on five bighas of land to recoup the losses he faced last year.
He said he was yet to collect asterix variety of potato seed, but was relying on the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC), which had assured him of its supply on time.
Farmer Gaziul Haq from Karimpur village in Kalai upazila said he was at a loss to know on how many bighas of land he would grow potato this year, adding that he had farmed potatoes on 20 bighas of land last year.
Seeking anonymity, several BADC seed dealers told the Dhaka Tribune that many of them sold 500-600 tonnes of potato seed last year, but there was no scope to sell that amount this year.
A dealer has been allocated only five tonnes this year, which is hardly enough to meet even 10 percent of the market demand, they said.
Khetlal Upazila Parishad Chairman RDistrict Agriculture Extension Department’s Deputy Director Sabbir Ibne Jahan said they had been supplied by the government only 400 tonnes of potato seed while it had been estimated that it would require 55000 tonnes for cultivation on 39500 hectares of land this year.