And this led to a shortage of potatoes, the farmers said.
February-March is the perfect harvest time for potatoes since they mature 90 days after sowing, said Habibur Rahman, the designated agriculture officer of Kishoreganj upazila. But the farmers who harvested early in December will profit, which is good since we work for the farmers benefit, he added.
During a recent visit to various potato producing villages in the district, this correspondent found trucks bound for Dhaka s Karwan Bazar waiting to be loaded alongside the fields.
Aminur Rahman, a farmer of Putimari village, hired a group of day labourers to harvest the potatoes he cultivated on five bighas of land. Meanwhile, another group of workers were engaged in weighing, packing and loading the tuber crop onto trucks.