Why did the price of potatoes suddenly increase?

Even though the Baishakh temperatures have not yet become unbearable due to the oceanic cyclone, the price of potatoes in the Bengali grain market has been strained at the beginning of the new year. Prices of all types of potatoes have started to rise since the middle of Chaitra. Eid has already passed. Festivals like Gajan, Neel, Chadak, and New Year are just over. All in all, the demand for potatoes is high. In this situation, the price of potatoes seems to be running in line with the temperature.

Bapan Das, a retailer, said, “We could not have predicted that the price would rise so much within 10–15 days. At the end of March, a sack of Chandramukhi was Tk 900–950. Now I am buying for 1250 taka. Today’s price of a sack of Jyoti potatoes bought at 650–700 taka is 1100 taka. Similarly, the bag of Hemangini, or Super Six, has increased from 800-850 to 1100 taka.”

However, Sanjeev Kund, a member of the West Bengal Progressive Potato Traders Association, has given a clear indication that prices are not going down for now. He said, “This time traders have bought potatoes at a price of Tk 700–850 from the farmer’s house while stocking them. The total cost of sorting rotten and stained items and keeping them in the store is about 350 taka. As a result, traders will not sell those potatoes below 1200 rupees for normal reasons.