thedailystar | observerbd | unb | thedailynewnation | bangladeshpost | thedailystar | businessinsiderbd | bssnews | channelionline | uttorbangla | alokitobangladesh | channelionline | bdtype – March 21, 2022
More than eight lakh tonnes of potato will remain unsold in Bangladesh this year, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said on Sunday. Quoting the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), the FAO said more than 4.8 lakh hectares of land were brought under potato production this year. The yield has been expected to be more than 11 million tonnes, but domestic demand for potatoes is only about 7.7 million tonnes, it said in a press release. In order to prevent this significant loss, the government has been encouraging potato exports. And to this end, farmers inaugurated potato export at a ceremony Pairabandh and Mithapukur upazilas in Rangpur recently, the FAO said. The event was organized under the ‘Missing Middle Initiative’ project jointly initiated by FAO and Sara Bangla Krishak Society (SBKS), a national network of farmers’ organizations.