The Potato Value Chain Promotional Body has held a human-chain programme in Bogura demanding that the rent for storing potatoes in cold storage be set at five taka per kilogram. Farmers, potato traders and related professionals took part in the programme at Satmatha, the heart of the city, on Sunday afternoon.
At the human chain, the organisation’s president, Chamiul Islam, said the cost of producing potatoes for farmers had risen significantly this season. On top of that, the extra rent for storing potatoes in cold storage had become a new burden for farmers. Because of the high rent, many farmers were being forced to sell their potatoes cheaply during the season itself, depriving them of a fair price, he said.
He further said that if farmers survived, agriculture would survive, and if agriculture survived, the country’s economy would become stronger. So, considering farmers’ interests, the rent for storing potatoes in cold storage had to be set at a maximum of five taka per kilogram. The speakers also called on the relevant government offices to make the potato storage and marketing system farmer-friendly.
At the human chain, speakers alleged that the increase in cold-storage rent every year was raising farmers’ production costs. This was harming farmers on the one hand, they said, while also making potato prices in the market unstable. They demanded that the rent be re-fixed quickly to bring relief to farmers, warning that if the relevant authorities did not take swift steps to implement their reasonable demand, a larger movement would be built up with farmers and traders.
Those present at the human chain included the organisation’s central president, Chamiul Islam; the Bogura Sadar upazila secretary, Sohrab Hossain Ratul; cashier Belal Hossain; office secretary Mehedi Hasan; and Kashem, Millat, Asik and others.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report