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Potato exports near last year’s total in 9 months

SOHEL PARVEZ

Outbound potato shipments are set to exceed last year’s total as local exporters are able to supply the vegetable at more competitive prices than Pakistan and China, various exporters said yesterday.

Bangladesh shipped 63,320 tonnes of potato between July 1 and March 28 in fiscal year 2021-22.

The amount is just around 1,500 tonnes below the total potato exports recorded in fiscal year 2020-21, according to data from the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), which issues plant health certificates for international shipments.

“We have been able to deliver potatoes at more competitive prices than Pakistan,” said Shaikh Abdul Qauder, president of the Bangladesh Potato Exporters Association (BPEA).

Bangladesh ships potato mainly to Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Middle Eastern countries, namely the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Nepal also imported 15,000 tonnes of potato this year, said Md Rezaul Karim, deputy director of the DAE’s Plant Quarantine Wing.

“We expect the total potato exports will be 100,000 tonnes at the end of this fiscal year,” he added.

Exporters shipped 100,000 tonnes of potato once in fiscal year 2013-14, which is the highest on record. Shipments of the tuber later declined but there has been a rising trend for the last two years, as per DAE data.

Farmers cultivated potato on 4.77 lakh hectares of land this fiscal year and the DAE expects that production would cross one crore tonnes. Growers bagged 98.8 lakh tonnes of potato last fiscal year, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

Bangladesh is the seventh biggest potato producer in the world but the amount exported is insignificant.

Quader said lack of exportable variety of potato has been a major barrier to boost export. And removal of restrictions on the introduction of new varieties of potato seeds, and their production and marketing for three years by the agriculture ministry, has helped them introduce some new varieties.

“We were able to start exporting potato from January this year as we brought extra of the early variety. Earlier, we could begin export from February,” he said, adding the new variety matures in 60 to 65 days.

Kazi Mahabub Morshed, owner of Kanak International, another exporter, said they shipped a good amount of the vegetable in the January-February period. The quantity shipped in March was comparatively low though.

“There was a supply shortage of quality potatoes from Pakistan and China to the markets we export to,” he said.

However, exporters are not going to be able to export to Russia this year despite the removal of a ban imposed by the country in this regard.

The problem is that freight rates are around $14,000 per container for potatoes worth $8,000 in total, Morshed said.

“I do not see any prospect of exporting this year. Maybe next year though if freight rates decline and global tensions ease,” he added.

Quader said the freight rate was $3,600 per container when Russia slapped on the ban in 2015.

“Freight fares are so high that we cannot export even after the reopening of export opportunities,” he added.