Rangpur Sees Record 32.3 Lakh Tonnes Potato Harvest

Farmers in Rangpur region have produced a record-breaking 32,30,682 tonnes of potatoes during the current Rabi season, marking a significant increase of over 6 lakh tonnes from last year’s harvest of 26,29,893 tonnes.

This year’s production also surpassed the Department of Agricultural Extension’s (DAE) target of 26,99,197 tonnes by 5,31,485 tonnes—an impressive 19.69% increase, said Md Afzal Hossain, Deputy Director of the Rangpur regional DAE office.

Potatoes were cultivated on 1,19,729 hectares of land this season, exceeding the target area of 1,01,576 hectares by 17.88%. The average yield stood at 26.98 tonnes per hectare.

Farmers benefited from early exports to countries including Singapore, Malaysia, and the UAE. Popular export varieties included 'Santa', 'Diamond', 'Kumarika Alouette', 'Asterisk', and 'Sunshine'.

However, the region now faces a storage crisis. All 71 cold storages, with a combined capacity of 7,32,572 tonnes, are full. The lack of additional storage has led to a local glut, pushing market prices downward.

In Rangpur’s wholesale markets, 60-kg sacks of export and local varieties such as 'Santa', 'Diamond', 'Kumarika', 'Cardinal', 'Raja', 'Granula', and 'Asterisk' are selling for Tk 720–780. Premium varieties like 'Sheel Alu' and 'Jhau Alu' are fetching higher prices, ranging from Tk 1,500 to Tk 1,700 per sack. At the retail level, prices vary between Tk 16–18 per kg for common varieties and Tk 30–32 for premium ones.

Farmers and traders report that prices have dropped since March due to oversupply and insufficient cold storage capacity.

Mostafa Sohrab Chowdhury Titu, former president of the Rangpur Chamber of Commerce, called for urgent measures including expanded cold storage, investment in agro-processing industries, and increased export support to stabilize the market and safeguard farmers’ incomes.

Local farmers—Manik Mian, Isahaque Ali, Mohammad, Nur Hossain, and Mofizar Rahman—have urged the government to take immediate steps to make potato cultivation more profitable and sustainable in the long term.