News Flash
DHAKA, Aug 23, 2025 (BSS) - Agriculture and Home Affairs Adviser Lt. Gen. (retd) Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury today said that the government would procure potatoes to minimize the losses of farmers who are not getting fair prices for their produces due to higher potato production this year.
The Adviser made these remarks while briefing journalists during his visit to various research and processing centers of the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) at Gabtoli in the capital.
He said that tissue culture of potatoes, pineapples, dates, and different flowers is being carried out at BADC’s tissue culture center. “We import dates from abroad. If seedlings produced through this technology can be widely distributed locally, then import dependency will decline. Currently, we buy potato seeds from countries like the Netherlands at higher prices. If improved potato seeds can be produced domestically, it will benefit the country’s agriculture. BADC’s tissue culture lab is working towards that goal,” he said.
In response to a question regarding the recent hike in vegetable prices, he said that heavy rainfall has damaged the vegetable fields thus affecting the market price. Once the weather normalizes, this problem will ease, he added.
“Although vegetable prices are rising, potato prices remain low. Farmers are not getting fair prices of potatoes this year and are incurring losses. Therefore, the government plans to procure potatoes officially. The government has also decided to set prices at the cold storage level to minimize farmers’ losses,” he said.
On the issue of reducing dependency on imported jute seeds, the Agriculture Adviser explained that producing jute seeds is time-consuming while the farmers can harvest two to three rice crops instead. “Farmers usually cultivate that which is more profitable. Moreover, keeping jute for seed purposes reduces the quality of its fiber. As the country has limited land, meeting the demand with locally produced jute seeds is not feasible,” he added.
During the visit, the Adviser inspected BADC’s research centers, cold storage facilities, and other infrastructures. Agriculture Secretary Dr. Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian was present on the occasion.
