Potato target may be missed in 10 southwestern dists

Officials at the Regional Agriculture Extension Department (RAED) in Kushtia said their target is to bring 19557 hectares under cultivation in the current season to produce 232913 tones of potato.

According to BADC seed marketing section, the demand for potato seeds in ten southwestern districts is about 1.29 lakh tonnes. But Badc has supplied only 3 to 5 per cent of the demand, while different NGOs supplied 25 to 35 per cent of it.

Due to crisis, farmers are collecting seeds from the black market, which is totally dependent on smuggled Indian seeds, which are of very low quality, according to farmers and agriculture officials.

Talking to this correspondent, some farmers in Kushtia sadar upazila said they prefer BADC seeds but it is out of their reach because dealers and traders buy those beforehand in alleged connivance with a section of officials to make undue profit.

The price of BADC seeds is Tk 20 per kg but traders sell those between Tk 30 and 35, they said.

They said they may not go for cultivating potato because, adding the cost of fertiliser, they will have to spend at least Tk 10,000 for one bigha land. On the other hand, the yield is uncertain, they said.

Most farmers do not prefer seeds supplied by NGOs because those are not guaranteed.

Officials of DAE and BADC said crisis of potato seeds is a common phenomenon in the region because most farmers can not preserve seed potato. They have to depend either on BADC or NGOs.

There are only three cold storages for ten districts in the region, which have a total capacity to preserve only 1000 tonnes of seeds.

DAE officials seeking anonymity apprehended that potato cultivation target might not be attained this year in the 10 southwestern districts.