Potato Review

34 POTATO REVIEW JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 INTERNATIONAL NEWS Bangladesh potatoes to be sold at Tk25 a kg A KILO of potato in Bangladesh will be sold at Tk25 in the wholesale markets and Tk23 at cold storage gates, following a government ruling. In face of sharp rise in prices, the government made the decision to sell potatoes at the designated price through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) according to a report by Dhaka Tribune. A kilogram of potatoes sold at Tk55-60 at dierent kitchen markets in the capital on Sunday. Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi made the announcement after a meeting the with Department of Agricultural Marketing, Bangladesh Cold Storage Association, Department of Agricultural Extension and potato traders on the day. “There is sucient stock of potatoes in the country, hence no scope of crisis. We will ensure that potatoes will be sold at a price set by the government,” said Tipu Munshi. Bangladesh imports over 2000 tons of seed potato from the Netherlands BANGLADESH began importing quality potato seeds from the Netherlands in November. The imported seed potatoes include varieties such as Diamond, Carolus, Margarita, Barcelona, and Accent. The prices of per kg potato at the wholesale market were fixed at Tk30 and at cold storage Tk27. However, the potato was being retailed at Tk45 in Chittagong markets. Karwanbazar wholesalers stop potato sales again POTATOES traders in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka have said that cold storage owners are not releasing potatoes for less than Tk35-36 per kilogram, although they were instructed by the government to sell to wholesalers at Tk27 per kg. A correspondent from the Dhaka Tribune found potatoes retailing for Tk45-50 per kg, despite the Department of Agricultural Marketing’s directive to sell potatoes at Tk35 per kg in retail. Wholesalers at Karwanbazar kitchen market stopped selling potatoes for the second time in a week as they could not purchase the item from cold storage owners at government-set price. One urged the government to conduct mobile court operations at the capital’s cold storages, who were disobeying government directives. Other wholesalers have been selling potatoes for Tk40 per kg. By contrast, most other vegetable prices reduced by Tk5-20 per kg over the same week. Unknown wart variety discovered AN unknown variant of potato wart disease has been discovered in the intensively-cultivated north-east region of the Netherlands, the NVWA (Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority) has revealed. The discovery was made in agricultural fields in the municipality of Stadskanaal and the NVWA is conducting further research into the origin of the contamination and how to approach. It is unclear whether existing potato varieties with good resistance to wart disease variants known in the Netherlands are also resistant to the latest variant. Warts have been found on three starch potato varieties - Festien, BMC and Supporter. Wart disease is a plant disease caused by the fungus Synchytrium endobioticum and the NVWA says a similar situation occurred in 2003, when physio 18 was first found in the Netherlands. This subsequently led to a collaboration with the sector to gain insight into the degree of resistance of important varieties in the area as quickly as possible. To make this possible again, the NVWA collects as much wart material as possible. In addition, an experimental study is attempting to obtain an indication of which potato varieties may be resistant to this unknown variety. India resumes import of potatoes fromBhutan INDIA has thrown open its domestic market for certain agricultural commodities including potatoes from Bhutan. The decision is expected to help a large number of Bhutanese traders as India had stopped the import just days earlier because of growing number of COVID-19 cases in the Bhutanese territory near the border. India’s envoy Ruchira Kamboj described the move as part of fulfilling a key commitment to grow bilateral trade. The trade was disrupted after the Indian border trade hub of Jaigaon stopped the import citing COVID-19 cases in Phuentsholing. The Indian decision is likely to help dozens of traders on the Bhutanese side who had a large number of trucks stranded after Jaigaon stopped trade. Source: The Hindu (www.thehindu.com) Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma