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Crop Intelligence · Long View 01

The rise of potato

Selected moments across six decades show how potato production expanded, how the mechanism changed, and where recorded production sits now.

1961 → 2024–25FAOSTAT + BBS

01 · 1961 · NATIONAL OBSERVATION

The record begins small.

Potato was still a relatively small national crop in the 1961 record.

Production343,408 t
Harvested area55,847 ha
Yield6.1 t/ha
Cross-source comparison30.9×

Recorded production in 2023–24 is 30.9 times the 1961 value. This compares a 1961 FAOSTAT calendar-year observation with a 2023–24 BBS crop-year observation.

Source: FAOSTAT · 1961 calendar year. Cross-source endpoint: BBS Yearbook of Agricultural Statistics 2025 · 2023–24 crop year.

02 · 1969–70 · HISTORICAL REPORTING UNITS

The record starts naming places.

BBS reports potato area and production across 20 historical reporting units. The evidence is the table itself; these names are not translated onto today’s district boundaries.

1969–70 table excerpt · source spellings retained
Reporting unitArea · acresProduction · t
Dhaka38,940268,925
Kishoregonj8,18517,920
Mymensingh12,56029,250
Tangail2,9857,400
Faridpur2,4907,105
Chittagonj8,15047,125
Chittagonj H.T2,0207,960
Noakhali4,10019,580
See all 20 reporting units
Complete 1969–70 reporting-unit record
Reporting unitArea · acresProduction · t
Dhaka38,940268,925
Kishoregonj8,18517,920
Mymensingh12,56029,250
Tangail2,9857,400
Faridpur2,4907,105
Chittagonj8,15047,125
Chittagonj H.T2,0207,960
Noakhali4,10019,580
Comilla22,51072,025
Sylhet12,99553,035
Rajshahi20,31046,555
Dinajpur16,46549,960
Rangpur19,38086,145
Bogra21,88067,595
Pabna4,38011,695
Khulna5,84026,815
Bakergonj3,81015,885
Patuakhali3801,270
Jessore2,3158,335
Kustia1,4506,190

Source: BBS, 45 Years Agriculture Statistics of Major Crops, Table 3.1 · 1969–70 crop year.

03 · THE MECHANISM CHANGES

First land, then yield.

The 1998–99 jump was almost entirely land-led. Later, harvested area was nearly flat while yield rose sharply.

1997–98 → 1998–99Expansion through land
MeasureBeforeAfterChange
Harvested area136,274 ha244,835 ha+79.7%
Production1,553,180 t2,761,940 t+77.8%
Yield11.4 t/ha11.3 t/ha-1.0%
2010–11 → 2023–24Productivity becomes the engine
MeasureBeforeAfterChange
Harvested area460,197 ha456,979 ha-0.7%
Production8,326,389 t10,601,182 t+27.3%
Yield18.1 t/ha23.2 t/ha+28.2%

Sources: BBS via ESCAP/CAPSA for 1997–98 and 1998–99; BBS 45 Years Agriculture Statistics of Major Crops for 2010–11; BBS Yearbook of Agricultural Statistics 2025 for 2023–24. All are crop-year comparisons within each pair.

04 · 2024–25 · CURRENT DISTRICT RECORD

Five districts hold more than half.

The current BBS estimate resolves to all 64 districts. Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bogra, Joypurhat and Munshiganj together account for 52.6% of recorded production.

Production classes · tonnes
  • ≤ 7,285
  • 7,286–21,861
  • 21,862–42,376
  • 42,377–191,746
  • ≥ 191,747
Bangladesh district map showing five recorded potato production classes for 2024–25. The five leading districts are directly labelled with their shares.
Recorded potato production by district, 2024–25. Five classes use the visible tonne ranges shown on the map.
Recorded production11.6 million tonnes
Districts represented64
Top five share52.6%
  1. Rangpur1,475,432 tonnes12.7%
  2. Dinajpur1,308,808 tonnes11.3%
  3. Bogra1,178,604 tonnes10.2%
  4. Joypurhat1,111,364 tonnes9.6%
  5. Munshiganj1,015,095 tonnes8.8%

Source: BBS Yearbook of Agricultural Statistics 2025 · 2024–25 district potato estimate table. Shares are descriptive proportions of recorded national production.

Explore the current record

Move from interpretation to the full Atlas.

Open Potato in Crop Intelligence ↗

How to read this.

These observations do not form one continuous like-for-like series. The opening 1961 value is a FAOSTAT calendar-year observation; later national observations use BBS crop years.

The 1969–70 geography is presented as the historical BBS reporting-unit table. The 2024–25 Atlas uses the current 64-district estimate and is descriptive of recorded production.