Photo: Collected
About 15,000 sacks of potatoes have rotted and spoiled in Madaripur due to long-term storage in the hope of higher profits. The current retail market value of about 22,500 maunds of potatoes in these 60-kg sacks is about Tk 2.25 crore. These spoiled potatoes are now being distributed free of cost to local farmers and ranchers as cattle feed.
The cold storage authorities said that to maintain the quality of potatoes, they are usually kept in cold storage for a maximum of 10 months from the storage season. However, in the hope of selling at a higher price, Mir Habibur Rahman, the owner of Madaripur Cold Storage Limited, stored about 15,000 sacks of potatoes in March 2025. Since the desired price was not obtained, the potatoes were kept in storage until mid-September 2026. Due to long-term storage, the quality of the potatoes gradually deteriorated, rotted and started to smell bad.
Abdul Karim, manager of Madaripur Cold Storage, said that there is a risk of public suffering if these potatoes are thrown out in the open. For this reason, they are being distributed free of cost to local farmers and ranchers for five days.
Traders are claiming that the supply of potatoes in the local market is being affected due to storing a large amount of potatoes for a long time. Tasud Talukder, general secretary of the Madaripur Raw Material Store Owners Association, told the media that distributing rotten potatoes free of cost is having a negative impact on the market. This is also reducing the price of potatoes. This year, the price of potatoes is already low. In the meantime, ordinary traders are facing losses due to giving these potatoes free of cost.
Sarwar Hossain, a raw material trader in Puran Bazar, said that if the potatoes were marketed while they were still good, there would be less need to collect potatoes from other districts. He said that the amount of potatoes that were spoiled would have lasted for a season.
Rubel Mia, agricultural marketing officer of Madaripur district, said that the owner of the cold storage has personally stored these potatoes. There is no scope to take legal action against him as the potatoes are spoiled. He is not aware of any impact on the open market due to the free distribution of rotten potatoes. He said that the supply and prices of potatoes in local markets are normal.
Source: Online/GFMM
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