Farmers throw potatoes on the road in Rangpur!

ছবিঃ

Rangpur Bureau: Potato farmers held a protest rally by throwing potatoes on the road at the Rangpur Press Club demanding a reduction in cold store rent.

Potato farmers observed this commemoration in front of the press clock on the road from the Ship Company intersection to Modan in Rangpur city on Wednesday (February 19) afternoon.

Under the chairmanship of Anwar Hossain Bablu, convener of the Potato Farmers' Struggle Committee, Rangpur district, speeches were delivered by Ahsanul Arefin Titu, central convener of the Bangladesh Agricultural Workers and Farmers' Organization, potato farmers Jamshed Ali, Rezwan Shah, Taslim Uddin, Rana Mia, Laxmikanta Roy, Mainul Islam, Nasir Uddin and others.

The leaders said that potatoes are our main vegetable and cash crop. There is a huge demand for potatoes worldwide. The land and climate of North Bengal, especially Rangpur, are particularly suitable for potato cultivation. As a result, farmers in this region produce a lot of potatoes. But even with a bumper potato crop, farmers cannot see any profit.

They said that since potatoes are perishable vegetables, farmers cannot keep them at home for long. They have to sell them quickly. At this time, the syndicate of traders brings down the potato market. As a result, farmers naturally try to store potatoes in cold stores. But the potato syndicate of traders and various companies, in collusion with store owners, book most of the store spaces in advance. As a result, farmers do not get space in cold stores either.

In this way, the syndicate of cold store owners, along with the business syndicate, is forcing farmers to sell potatoes at a low price. Due to the low price again, farmers are trying to keep the potatoes in the field for a long time and ripen them for seed. But since most of the store space is booked for food potatoes, farmers will not be able to keep seed potatoes.

As a result, there will be a severe shortage of seeds next year. Due to lack of supervision by the administration, cold storage owners have doubled the rent for potatoes overnight. Last year, the store rent for a sack of potatoes was 280 taka, this time it will cost 560 taka to store the same amount of potatoes. No one is watching the price of these potatoes!

The demands are - cancel the price of potato at 8 taka per kg and set it at 1.50 taka. Stop charging 100 taka per sack in the name of advance booking. Immediately construct specialized seed cold storage in every upazila on the government initiative. It should be mandatory to allocate 60 percent of the space in all cold storages for genuine farmers. Farmers who are unable to sell potatoes at a profitable price should be compensated. Arrangements should be made for potato farmers to export potatoes abroad on the government initiative.

In his speech as the president, Anwara Hossain Bablu said, "To protect potato farmers and protect agriculture, I urge the Potato Farmers' Struggle Committee to organize a joint meeting of store owners, potato farmers, and the district administration. I also urge the government to take immediate initiatives to take effective steps to implement the written demands."

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