Bangladesh: Potato production tripled in 12 yrs

Potato used to be grown in a smaller scale in Munshiganj and some other parts of Bangladesh in 1980. The country produced only 0.9 million tonnes of potato in 1980 soared to nearly 100 million tonnes in 2015.

Potato is now the second staple food item of Bangladesh and per-person potato consumption rose to 10 times more than that were in 1980.

Talking about the progress in potato production, agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury told Prothom Alo, “We are not just focussing on increasing potato production but concentrating on growing quality potatoes for exports.”

“At the same time, we have set up potato storages which do not require electricity. Bangladesh has been exporting potatoes to neighbouring countries and even to the European market for the last few years,” she added.

According to the last statistics of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations in 2013, Bangladesh ranked seventh in potato production.

However, China, India, Russia, Ukraine, USA and Germany were ahead of Bangladesh in the FAO report.  In 2013, Bangladesh achieved the seventh rank with 8.6 million tonnes of potato production but around 3.0 million tonnes in 2002.

When asked about the surprising progress in potato production, IFPRI Bangladesh chief executive Akhtar Ahmed told Prothom Alo that the achievement came for the farming community and agriculture scientists.

However, potato farmers fall in trouble with their produce after two years or one as they find no room for store potatoes in cold storages, he said. 

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), Bangladesh produced 92.54 million tonnes of potatoes this year. However, Directorate of Agriculture Extension predicted the production of potatoes will surpass 100 million of tonnes in 2015.

According to the FAO, Bangladesh is now third top potato producer in the globe. Only China and India are ahead of Bangladesh in potato production.

Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) sources said potato export has been increasing since 2012. Bangladesh exported potatoes worth about Tk 2.33 billion in 2014-15 fiscal year.