Potato output hits historic high, raises concerns of surplus

Bangladesh produced 1.15 crore tonnes of potatoes, the highest in history, in the last harvesting season, raising fears that a good portion of the tuber is likely to remain surplus this year as demand is far below the output, according to estimates by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

An expansion of cultivation area and a higher yields owing to favourable weather boosted the overall production of the popular vegetable this year, said the BBS, releasing its estimate early this month.

Farmers grew the tuber on 4.92 lakh hectares in the fiscal year 2024-25, up 8 percent year on year. Overall production increased 9 percent year-on-year from 1.06 crore tonnes the previous year, it added.

"We are going to see a surplus this year," said Matiar Rahman, director of Tuber Crop Research Centre (TRC).

Including around 10 lakh tonnes of potatoes used for seeds, the country requires just over 90 lakh tonnes of potatoes for domestic consumption, according to estimates by the TRC and the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association (BCSA).

With roughly 80 lakh tonnes being consumed, a portion of the vegetable is used by processors to make chips and crackers. Apart from this, just over 62,000 tonnes of potatoes were exported in the fiscal year 2024-25.

"It appears that many people will not show interest in buying potatoes at the end of the year, causing losses for farmers," he said.

Transplanted from mid-September to November, the main harvesting season starts in mid-January and continues until March every year. However, early varieties of the vegetable start coming to the market from December, and demand for old potatoes declines amid an increased arrival of winter vegetables.

Stakeholders said potatoes harvested in the January-March period will be consumed in the three and a half months of this year.

Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, president of the BCSA, said cold storages have 29 lakh tonnes of potatoes now as only 4 lakh tonnes have been released so far.

"Now, there are no potatoes at the farmers' end," he said.

"As we have only three and a half months of the season, a good amount is likely to remain surplus," he said, adding that the price of the vegetable remains much lower than the overall cost.

Potatoes are selling at Tk 14-Tk 15 per kilogramme (kg) whereas production and other costs are Tk 25-Tk 27, he added.

At retail, the vegetable is selling at Tk 25-Tk 30 per kg in Dhaka, which is 48 percent lower than the same period a year ago, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.

"The amount of export is not significant," he said.

To increase consumption, the BCSA earlier urged the government to include 10 kg of potatoes per household in the social safety net schemes, including the Food-Friendly Programme.

He said mostly farmers stored potatoes in the cold storages and if the government takes the initiative to distribute potatoes under social safety net programmes, farmers will be saved from losses.

"We have not seen any decision from the government," he said.