Meeting tomorrow on cold storage rent in Thakurgaon

Amid protests on high cold storage rent, the local administration in Thakurgaon today said it will sit with the potato growers, traders and storage owners to fix a new rate.

Deputy Commissioner of Thakurgaon Md Mahbubur Rahman made the comment as the potato growers in Thakurgaon yesterday cordoned off the office of the deputy commissioner demanding a cut in the increased cold storage rents.

Over 200 people under the banner of "Potato Growers and Traders Welfare Association of Thakurgaon" from different places of the district took part in the agitation programme.

"The cold storage owners charged Tk 250 for every 70-kilogramme bag last year, but this year they are charging Tk 260 for every 50-kg bag," Khalekuzzaman Khokon, a potato grower of Nargoon village in Thakurgaon sadar, told The Daily Star.

But the cold storages in Manikganj charge Tk 175 for 70-kg bags and the rates hover between Tk 200 to 220 in Munshiganj, he said.

"It means the cold storage owners in Thakurgaon are charging Tk 1.63 higher for per kg of potato and Tk 81.5 more for every 50-kg bag. It's creating a huge pressure on us."

Another potato grower, Md Zaman of Thakurgaon sadar upazila, said they would incur losses if the cold storage rents are not reduced now.

"The growers now have to spend Tk 18 for production and preservation of each kg of potato, which stands at Tk 22 in case of traders."

The cost would increase further if the interest on capital is taken into consideration, Zaman said.

"Now potatoes are sold at Tk 18-19 a kg at the cold storage gates. So, the growers and traders would face huge losses if the rents are not reduced now."

Every year, potato production exceeds the cold storage capacity of Thakurgaon.

This year, growers produced 740,584 tonnes of the tuber crop on 27,677 hectares of land, whereas the target was 679,798 tonnes on 28,515 hectares, said Abu Hossain, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Thakurgaon.

"But the 16 cold storages in Thakurgaon have the capacity to preserve 136,550 tonnes of potatoes at a time."

Delwar Hossain, owner of Shahi Cold Storage of Thakurgaon, said the cold storage rent was fixed as per the instructions of Bangladesh Cold Storage Owners' Association.

The growers said they have repeatedly been requesting the local administration to take step to reset the rent.