Potato Can be Stored by Drying

Potato is the world's fourth largest food crop - following maize, wheat and rice. Potato is an important crop of the Rabi Season in Bangladesh, providing about 8.5 million tons food supply in each year.

Potato can not be stored at room temperature. Because, It will grow sprouts and will be no more edible. In general, farmers keep their potato in the cold store. But irregular supply of electricity and load-shading disrupts the storing process and potato start decaying.

This is the sad story of Potato cultivation in Bangladesh.But, we can solve the problem by applying a simple technology. Potato can be stored by drying and the process needs only a few steps:

1.   Potato needs to be boiled and skin should be removed after boiling
2.   Boiled potato should be mashed in to paste or small fragments and sun dried up to 10 to 11 % of moisture level
3.   Sun dried potato fragments should be kept in polythene bag or PET bottles in airtight condition

Dried potato fragments  with 10~11% moisture level can be kept in polythene bags or PET bottles for round the year. Dried potato fragments can be used in preparation of soups, cakes, curries and in other relevant recipes.

Small entrepreneurs can take the process as a business project. Here is the link for YouTube video, where you can see the whole process in step by step:

 https://youtu.be/2AdyfYhRQNM

Nourishing the History and Heritage and Selling the Local Famous Products: The Business Concept of "Upa Zilla Info-Museum" in  Bangladesh

1. There is an urgent need for maintaining, nourishing and caring the history and heritage of Bangladesh like a child. A country can enthusiastically nourish its own history, heritage and culture only by herself.

2. In a developing country, it is a very difficult task to nourish a sector which is not proven as 'economically profitable'. In Bangladesh 'Archiving' or establishing small 'Local museum' at Upa Zilla level is holding its position under this non-profit category. But, the situation can be changed by doing some 'home work' with the problem. Because on the other side of every problem there is a solution of the same hiding unnoticed - just we need to discover and implement it.

3. Initially, some brave entrepreneurs are needed to "make, own and show" the sample to the people technique for small and profitable entrepreneurship with archiving at some places in Bangladesh. After receiving the feed back and earning of experiences from the trial and error method, country wise expansion program may be taken later.

4. The concept is: There may be an "Upa Zilla Info-Museum" at the Upa Zilla level that can be owned by an individual or an NGO. At this moment 'Archiving' or 'Local Museum' may not come as the 'Main Dish' of the Info Museum. Let it come with a side dish or even 'Salad' or Salt, ultimately it will capture its' position by its own virtue.  

5. The "Upa Zilla Info-Museum" may collect and display local old documents, literature, relevant to the culture and the concerned Upa Zilla and the society. It can also collect and display antiques, samples of marketable local handicrafts and sale famous foods or agricultural products. People may enter in the display to see the old items and can purchase the local handicrafts, food and other agricultural products. Earning from the sales profit will help to run the center

6. At the 'Upa Zilla Info-Museum' people will supply their products, people will come to see their product and people will purchase their product. Like democracy, the salable product will be of the people, by the people and for the people.

7. If anybody can make it a successful venture in any place, people from other areas of the country will come forward to try with this business idea.  This is simply a small business concept and we hope that the later versions of the "Upa Zilla Info -Museum" will be of higher quality and more successful.