In an attempt to prevent a potential ban on export of potato from Bangladesh, the government is planning to force exporters to supervise the production process and ensure the quality of the potatoes meant for export.
The decision came after Russia – one of the biggest buyers of potato from Bangladesh – identified the presence of Brown Rot in the Bangladeshi exported items in the last fiscal year.
“The government has been trying to bring the potato exporters under a common rule which will direct them to use their own contract growers for growing potatoes and maintaining product quality, in order to ensure continuous export,” said Anwar Faruqe, director general of the Agriculture Ministry’s seed wing.
The ministry’s plans include using selective land for potato production by the exporters, which will be implemented from the upcoming season to avoid the probable threat of an export ban, he added.
The government has decided to stop the common practice of procuring the export-bound potatoes from local farmers as the crops might be defective, Faruqe said, adding that the ministry wants to create professionalism regarding the export of potatoes and other vegetable items.
However, Sayedul Islam Mithu, owner of Swarup Agriculture, which is also involved in the potato export trade, told the Dhaka Tribune that producing potato by contract growers was not the final solution; rather the government should establish an Export Processing Plant where the export items would be sorted, washed and bagged to avoid exporting defective items.
Among other measures to prevent a potential export ban, the government has also recommended that exporters examine soil quality of the potato-cultivating land to check the presence of the Ralstonia Solanacearum bacteria which causes the Brown Rot disease.
The government also suggested that farmers cultivate potato only on land which has naturally been washed by monsoon rainwater.
Citing the example of Munshiganj, Md Jalal Uddin, director (Tuber Crops Research Centre) of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, said the region was suitable for potato production as rainwater always washed out the bacteria there.
The government also directed the Department of Agriculture Extension to monitor the whole process of potato export, starting from land selection to the final export.
In the 2013-14 fiscal, Bangladesh exported around $34m worth of potato to different countries, including $9m of export to Russia alone. Malaysia is the largest importer of potato from Bangladesh, buying around $13m of potato from Bangladesh during the last fiscal.
Surplus production during the last two seasons meant that Bangladesh exported the highest volume of potato in the last fiscal; only $9m worth of potatoes were exported in the 2012-13 fiscal.
Following last year’s agitation among potato farmers for not getting fair prices, the government has been encouraging exporters to sell the necessary food items to other countries to save the farmers.
According to the DAE, the average annual production of potato in the country is around 80 lakh tonnes against local demands of around 50 lakh tonnes.
