Md. Masud Khan, Munshiganj (South) 

On the advice of the agriculture department, farmers have built non-refrigerated model storage houses, which have now become their only hope for storing potatoes. With no space available for proper storage, many farmers are being forced to sell their potatoes at low prices. The district’s 58 cold storages have stored a total of 506,900 metric tons of potatoes, whereas the total potato production in the district this year has reached 1,082,538 metric tons.

To tackle this crisis, the electricity-free non-refrigerated model storage house has become a ray of hope for farmers. These houses, built at a cost of around 200,000 taka on the farmer’s own property, can be used for 15–20 years. Constructed in elevated, open, and partially shaded areas, these structures can store potatoes in good condition for up to four months without electricity.

One local farmer said, “This house is like a cold storage, but it doesn’t need electricity, and there’s no transportation cost to and from the storage. The potatoes don’t dry out or lose weight.” Another farmer mentioned, “It costs only 6–7 taka per bag. We also save on the cost of buying and replacing sacks.”

Munshiganj Agricultural Marketing Officer Samir Hossain Siam said, “With these storage houses, farmers can sell potatoes in the market anytime they want. There’s no pre-cooling hassle like in cold storages.” The Deputy Director of the District Agricultural Extension Department, Biplob Kumar Hemonto, added, “If large-scale farmers build these houses, they will get fair prices and also be economically benefited.”

So far, the government has constructed 21 non-refrigerated model storage houses in the district for marginal farmers. Built with bamboo, wood, and tin on 1.5 decimal plots of land, each of these structures can store 25 to 30 metric tons of potatoes. The agriculture department says if more of these model houses are built, it will help break the cold storage syndicate and enable farmers to sell their products more freely in the market.