Staff Reporter:

Price of commodities in the country is somewhat stable, but the price of potato is increasing rapidly. Now you have to pay an average of 10 Taka per kg to buy potatoes more than the rice.

A few days ago, the price of potatoes was 35 to 40 Taka per kg. Today, morning, those potatoes are being sold in the retail market at 50-52 Taka. Consumers are suffering due to such changes in the price of potatoes in a week. Along with vegetables, prices of onion, ginger, garlic, dried chilli and turmeric powder have also gone up

According to the wholesalers, a week ago, the price of potato was Tk 1,440 per 40 KG bag, today it has increased from 1,600 to 1,800 Taka per bag.

They also said that the pressure on potatoes has increased due to storage of potato seeds and increase in prices of vegetables at the household level. So in the last one week, the price of potato has increased by 10-12 Taka per kg

Concerned people say that the floods have increased the pressure on potatoes due to rotting of vegetables in farmers' lands. Again cold storage potatoes are now being sold as seeds. So suddenly the price of potato has gone up by 10-12 Taka per kg in a week. We are monitoring the market regularly.

According to the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association, potatoes were sold at Tk 43 to 44 per kg from the cold storage last Sunday-Monday. This year (season ending in March) potato production is 20 percent less than the previous year. As a result, many traders think that the price of potatoes will go up further. So many people are not picking potatoes from the cold storage. In addition, the middlemen are now controlling the price of potatoes