Dhaka, April 23 -- A bumper potato harvest this year has failed to bring any relief to farmers across Bangladesh. With production costs unrecovered, thousands are on the brink of financial disaster as their homes and yards overflow with unsold potatoes.

Many farmers say they have no access to cold storage facilities, and as market prices nosedive, they are unable to sell their produce.

They blame a combination of limited storage capacity, exploitation by middlemen at cold storages, market syndicates, and the government's failure to promote exports.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), potatoes were cultivated on a record 524,000 hectares of land this fiscal year, 15 percent more than last year.

The Bangladesh C...