Dhaka, Sept. 15 -- Potato farmers, traders and cold storage owners in northern Bangladesh are facing steep price drops, even though the government set a Tk 22 per kilogram wholesale rate.

In practice, potatoes are changing hands at Tk 12-14 per kg in cold storages, while retail prices remain at Tk 20-22. The gap has left stakeholders fearing heavy losses ahead of the arrival of new crops in late November.

On Tuesday night, the Ministry of Agriculture announced a floor price of Tk 22 per kg at cold storage facilities and pledged to purchase 50,000 tonnes of potatoes. Yet farmers and traders remain sceptical about whether the pledge will be fully realised.

Cold storage operators, most of whom run their businesses on loans and offer credi...