Bangladesh’s agricultural sector is currently grappling with a significant paradox in the financial year 2024-25: an all-time high potato production coinciding with a decade-low in prices, creating a severe crisis for farmers, traders, and cold storage owners alike. This unprecedented situation threatens the stability of the potato market and the livelihoods dependent on its cultivation and trade.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) reported a record potato output of 11.57 million tonnes in FY25, a significant 9.17 per cent increase from the 10.60 million tonnes produced in FY24. This robust yield is attributed to a rise in acreage by 35,000 hectares and favourable weather conditions, according to officials.
However, this bumper harvest has come at a steep cost for producers. Potato prices during the FY25 harvesting season plummeted to Tk 7.0-8.0 a kg, a dramatic drop from the all-time high of Tk 75-85 a kg observed in retail markets in October-November last year. Farmers faced escalating production costs, with seed prices alone reaching Tk 90-100 per kg last year, pushing total costs to Tk 30,000-35,000 per bigha – a 30 per cent increase. Despite good yields, many farmers, particularly the 90 per cent who are small producers and cannot store their crops, struggled to recover their expenses, enduring 15-20 per cent losses in 2025. Some are now considering switching to maize farming due to these profound losses. This situation is compounded by a 30-40 per cent rise in potato seed prices this season due to shortages.
The crisis has rippled across the supply chain. Cold storage owners and large traders who initially bought vast quantities of potatoes when prices dropped are now facing similar difficulties. This is exacerbated by increased storage fees, which rose by Tk 1.0-3.0 a kg this year. The Bangladesh Cold Storage Association (BCSA) has urged the government to purchase potatoes at Tk 25 a kg from cold storage and to include them in the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh’s (TCB) subsidised essentials list. The BCSA claims potatoes are selling at Tk 14-15 per kg from cold storage, but their investment and operational costs reach Tk 25 per kg. BCSA President Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu highlighted that 90 per cent of cold storage potatoes belong to farmers, and failure to sell an extra 1.0 million tonnes could result in staggering losses of Tk 15 billion for storage owners. He suggested distributing these through government programs.
Despite the dire situation, affected farmers have not received any compensation from the government. A recent meeting led by the Commerce Secretary, though attended by various stakeholders, primarily focused on exports, with farmers’ problems not adequately addressed. The Commerce Secretary also stated there was no budgetary allocation to add potatoes to the TCB’s product list.
Farm experts and economists warn that if farmers abandon potato farming after suffering such significant losses, the market could become volatile next season, reminiscent of 2024 when prices reached Tk 50-85 per kg, leading to Bangladesh’s first-ever private sector import of 0.2 million tonnes. They recommend providing farmers who faced losses with seeds and fertilisers as incentives – specifically, enough for one bigha of land free of cost – to prevent them from leaving agriculture and to ensure future market stability.
The current potato crisis demands immediate and comprehensive policy intervention. Without proactive measures, Bangladesh risks jeopardizing a vital agricultural sector and facing renewed market instability.
