The government has fixed the maximum retail price of potato at Tk 30 a kilogram to keep the carbohydrate-rich vegetable within the reach of the commoners.
The Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) has fixed the maximum prices of potato at cold storage, wholesale and retail levels at Tk 23 a kg, Tk 25 a kg and Tk 30 a kg, respectively.
The decision came as the price of potato shot up by 25 per cent to Tk 50-55 a kg in a week. The price is almost 100 per cent higher than that of a year ago, according to DAM.
The maximum price of potato was Tk 14 a kg when it was stored, said a DAM notification, published on October 14.
Adding cold storage charge of Tk 3.66, weight loss amounting to Tk 0.88, selection cost of Tk 0.46, and interest and other costs of Tk 2.0 for each kilogram potato, the maximum cold storage level price of potato would stand at Tk 21 a kg.
But the vegetable is being sold at Tk 38-42 a kg in the wholesale market, the DAM said.
According to it, the country’s most recent annual potato production was 10.9 million tonnes against the demand of 7.7 million tonnes.
