With just one day remaining until the Eid al-Fitr celebrations, hundreds of thousands of potato-farming families in Bangladesh’s Rangpur region find themselves unable to share in the festive spirit. For the second consecutive year, farmers are counting heavy losses as vast quantities of harvested potatoes remain unsold in fields and storage. Many are forced to sell at prices nearly half the production cost—8 to 9 taka per kilogram against a production cost of 15 to 16 taka—while struggling under the weight of loans. Visits to villages in Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Rangpur, and Nilphamari revealed a stark contrast: while preparations for Eid are in full swing elsewhere, silence prevails in the homes of potato growers.
Farmers like Moksedur Rahman from Rangpur, who cultivated potatoes on 11 bighas at a cost of 620,000 taka and managed to sell only half his yield, say they cannot afford new clothes for their children or even meat for the holiday. Nur Islam and Rohidul Islam shared similar stories of debt and despair, with some losing their entire capital. According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, potatoes were planted on 110,700 hectares across the five districts this year, with an expected yield of approximately 3.035 million tons. However, with only 71 cold storage facilities in the region offering a total capacity of 764,500 tons, much of the harvest must be sold immediately at distressed prices. Sirajul Islam, Deputy Director of the Regional Department of Agricultural Extension in Rangpur, warned that without export opportunities, farmers will face a severe crisis, and continued losses may discourage future potato cultivation.
