Key Highlights

• Bangladesh processes only a small share of its potato crop
• Most potatoes grown are not fit for factory use
• Weak planning leads to oversupply and price falls
• Farmers bear losses while surplus goes to waste

Bangladesh produces a huge amount of potatoes each year, ranking among the top producers in the world. Yet farmers often suffer when prices drop sharply. Experts say this is not a farming failure. It is a planning and policy issue that keeps potatoes stuck as a side dish instead of a factory input.

Potatoes Seen Only as Food

In Bangladesh, potatoes are mostly treated as a vegetable eaten with rice. This limits how the crop is used. When harvests exceed local demand, prices fall fast. Farmers lose money and surplus crops go unused.

Other countries take a different path. A large share of their potatoes goes into factories making fries, chips, flakes and starch. This helps manage surplus and keeps prices more stable. Bangladesh processes only about 3 to 4 percent of its output, far below global levels.

Potatoes are the second most produced crop in the country after rice. Still, more than one-fourth of the harvest is lost after picking due to weak storage and handling systems.

Wrong Crops and Weak Planning

Industry leaders say most potatoes grown locally are table types, not suitable for factory use. These varieties contain too much moisture and sugar. As a result, they do not perform well when fried or processed.

Factories need potatoes of a certain size and quality, grown in planned volumes. That does not happen often in Bangladesh. Farmers choose crops on their own, without guidance or long-term demand signals.

Storage problems add to the trouble. There is little grading at farm level, limited cold-chain support for factory-grade crops and not enough modern warehouses. All this blocks both processing and exports.

Also read: Top 10 Potato Producing Countries in the World

Too Much Supply, Too Little Use

High prices in the previous season pushed farmers to plant more potatoes. Output then rose well beyond demand. Field prices dropped to Tk 9–11 per kg, while costs stayed much higher. Many farmers ended up in debt.

Cold storage space has grown, but factory capacity remains tiny. Experts say storage alone only delays losses. Without factories to absorb extra supply, prices will keep falling during big harvests.

What Needs to Change

Economists and scientists agree that potatoes must be viewed beyond the kitchen. Better crop planning, contract farming and region-based production can help. New high dry-matter varieties are also needed, along with stronger links between farmers and processors.

Until these gaps are fixed, Bangladesh’s potato surplus will continue to hurt farmers instead of helping the economy.

Bangladesh does not lack potatoes. It lacks planning, processing and clear direction. Without change, farmers will keep paying the price for surplus crops.

Image credit: javier albuja on Unsplash
News source: Kathmandu Post

Key Highlights

• Govt drops plan to buy 50,000 tonnes of potatoes
• Tk110cr extra cash will go to farmers’ mobile accounts
• Total help for FY26 rises to Tk260cr
• Database of 20 lakh farmers prepared for payment

The agriculture ministry has moved to give more help to potato farmers across Bangladesh after prices fell earlier this year. On 6 November, officials decided that instead of buying potatoes from cold stores, the govt will send Tk110 crore in cash to over 20 lakh growers. This comes on top of Tk150 crore already set aside in the FY26 budget.

Why the govt changed its plan

Potato prices sank to Tk13–14 per kg in July and August, far below the cost of growing and storing the crop. To ease the losses, the govt had first planned to buy 50,000 tonnes and sell them at a lower rate through TCB.

But during a review meeting on 6 November, TCB Chairman Brigadier General Mohammad Faisal Azad said it would be tough to confirm which cold stores held potatoes from real farmers. He warned the plan could end up helping others instead of growers.

He also explained that buying at Tk22 per kg and selling from trucks would push the cost up to Tk32 per kg. Selling at Tk10 would then need Tk22 in subsidy per kg. This meant the Tk110 crore needed for the operation might help farmers more if sent straight to their accounts.

Cash help instead of potatoes

Top officials at the meeting agreed with this view. Agriculture Secretary Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian and Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman backed the shift from procurement to cash support.

After this, the agriculture ministry asked the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) to prepare a full list of real potato growers. DAE has now sent in a list of 20,32,363 farmers, with their phone numbers, mobile money accounts and the land size under potato farming.

RELATED: Top 10 Potato Producing Countries in the World

How the subsidy will work

The main budget already covers help for seed and fertiliser. The extra Tk110 crore will be sent to farmers based on irrigation and labour costs per acre. The agriculture ministry has written to the finance ministry asking for the release of funds so payments can start.

Why prices dropped this year

Bangladesh produced 115 lakh tonnes of potatoes in FY25, against a demand of 104 lakh tonnes. The surplus pushed prices down.

The cost of growing potatoes ranged from Tk14–17 per kg. Cold storage rent added Tk6–6.30 per kg and transport added Tk1–2 per kg. Many farmers ended up selling at a loss, raising concern that they may plant less next season.

As of 31 October, cold stores still held 6.83 lakh tonnes of table potatoes and 8.27 lakh tonnes of seed potatoes. New potatoes will reach markets in full scale by February.

The cash help is meant to keep farmers from suffering more losses and to keep potato farming on track for the next season. All eyes are now on the finance ministry to release the funds.

Source: The business standard
Image credit: Manuel Parra – Pexels