19,400-tonne potato import gets govt nod

In an effort to keep costs under control, the agriculture ministry has begun to grant importers authorization to bring potatoes.

According to Md Kamrul Islam Bhuiyan, senior information officer of the agricultural ministry, the Department of Agricultural Extension has approved the import of 19,400 tons of potatoes thus far in response to 28 applications.

A day after the commerce ministry authorized imports in an attempt to control retail prices that spiked to Tk 65 per kg in Dhaka, the highest amount ever, the DAE started to grant import permits for the root vegetable.

Government agencies calculated that 1.04 crore tonnes of potatoes were produced during the most recent harvest season—a bigger amount than during the previous one.

Roughly 80 lakh tonnes of consumption are needed annually. Traders, however, do not agree with the production estimate.