Fair Prices for Farmers’ Produce Must Be Guaranteed

Bangladesh’s farm sector is largely self sufficient. The country often grows more rice, fish, meat, milk, potato, vegetables, onion, garlic, watermelon, salt, local fruits and winter crops than its targets or total demand. In some cases the harvest is a bumper one. Farmers are the backbone behind this self sufficiency. They work hard year after year to produce food.

The problem is that farmers often do not get a fair price for their crops. In many cases, they cannot even cover their production cost. Almost every year, farmers dump their crops on the road in protest, and some feed them to cattle. Meanwhile, the same products sell at several times the farm price in Dhaka and other cities.

So farmers lose money in the field, and city people face sky high prices for the same crops. This is bad for both sides. The main causes are a weak supply chain, rising transport costs and farmers being held hostage by middlemen. Farmers sweat to grow the crop and lose money, while middlemen make the profit. It seems that growing more has become a curse for farmers.

A Daily Bonikbarta report the day before yesterday said farmers do not want to take potatoes out of cold storage for fear of losses. Potatoes sell at Tk 11 to 14 per kg at the cold storage gate. At this price, farmers lose Tk 15 to 16 on every kg. So they hold back their potatoes.

According to the Department of Agricultural Marketing, the country needs about 90 lakh tonnes of potatoes a year. This year, farmers grew about 1 crore 17 lakh 85 thousand tonnes. After meeting demand, they stored about 33 lakh 90 thousand 57 tonnes in government and private cold storages and non cooled model houses. That is 28.77 percent of total output. Of this, 24 lakh 44 thousand 148 tonnes are food potatoes and 9 lakh 45 thousand 910 tonnes are seed potatoes.

This means farmers face heavy losses when they sell their stored potatoes. The situation brings frustration and discouragement for the coming potato season. If farmers cannot make a profit, why should they grow potatoes at a loss? The government has not yet set the production target for the coming season, but preparations are on.

Farmers in Dinajpur and some other areas have already started growing early variety potatoes. Farmers in 13 upazilas of Dinajpur are busy with this work. The agriculture department has set a target to grow potatoes on 48 thousand 750 hectares in the district. Farmers hope to bring new potatoes to market at the start of the Bengali month of Agrahayan and get good prices. They want to make up for last season’s loss. From next month, farmers will begin the normal potato season in full swing.

There is a fear that many farmers have lost interest in growing potatoes this time because they did not get fair prices last time. Many will cut the amount they grow. This is a warning sign for potato production. If output falls below demand, the country may face a food crisis, and prices may go out of consumers’ reach. Potato is an important food for many people, and some meet their rice needs with potato dishes.

Before the election last year, Prime Minister Mr. Tarique Rahman spoke about the importance of potato farming and storage. He joined a discussion virtually at the Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Centre on National Revolution and Solidarity Day. While he criticised the opposition over the referendum, he said a fair price for farmers’ potatoes and onion storage houses matter much more to farmers than a referendum.

Mr. Tarique Rahman argued that potato farmers feared a loss of about Tk 3,000 crore that year. He said the state would have to spend nearly the same amount to meet the demand of one or two political parties for a referendum. He said a fair price for potatoes is far more important than this referendum. He said farmers would welcome it more if the government used the money for the referendum to build onion storage houses. Without good storage, the country must import onion every year.

The opposition parties criticised his remarks at that time. But today, given the facts, there is no alternative to giving farmers fair prices for potatoes and onion, storing their crops and keeping their interest alive. The same thinking and planning is needed for other crops too. The government must take effective steps so that farmers earn a profit and want to produce more. This will keep the country self sufficient in food and avoid the need to import food.

The government has already ended a long period of price uncertainty in salt farming. It has fixed the price of salt at Tk 425 per maund. Salt farmers have joined the work with great enthusiasm. About 40 thousand salt farmers are growing salt on 60 thousand acres of land.

Salt farmers say that fixing a price is not enough. The government must set up monitoring in the field to make sure the price is carried out. Salt is a very basic food item, and makers use it in almost every kind of food product. Most people know more or less the salt crisis that came with the famine of 1974. So the government must ensure that salt farmers get a fair price for their salt.

Winter is in the air in the country. Vegetables are plentiful in the winter season. Farmers grow tomato, cauliflower, cabbage, beans, red spinach, spinach, turnip, bottle gourd, radish and other seasonal vegetables in large amounts. Market supply also rises. Early winter vegetables have already reached the market. High prices keep them out of the reach of ordinary people.

But as the days pass, market supply will keep growing and prices will fall. Then farmers will find they cannot get a fair price for their vegetables, and they will dump them on the road in protest as always. Farmers get no fair price at the farm, and city consumers cannot afford to buy because of high prices. This opposite picture must end.

For this, the government must ensure that farmers get fair prices for their crops. It must set up a good system to move crops from the field to the market. It must take steps so that farmers get their price and consumers can buy goods within their means and feel relief. The government must keep both farmers and consumers at ease.