The Agriculture Minister of Bangladesh is encouraging farmers to increase the cultivation of high-yielding varieties of potatoes to enhance production. The minister highlighted that the current potato varieties being cultivated in the country are outdated and have low yields. He expressed concern over the decline in potato cultivation due to increased cultivation of mustard, maize, and boro paddy, leading to a potato shortage. By replacing low-yielding varieties with new high-yielding ones, the minister believes that the country can increase potato production using less land and potentially export to other countries.
During a discussion with reporters after participating in a meeting with farmers in Parertong village, Sreemangal upazila, the minister emphasized the need for transitioning to new high-yielding potato varieties. He also inspected potato fields in the area. Annually, approximately 4.56 lakh hectares of land are utilized for potato cultivation in Bangladesh, resulting in a production of 1.4 crore tonnes of potatoes. The average potato yield is 23 tonnes per hectare of land.
The project director of the “Production and Preservation of Quality Seed Potatoes and Strengthening Distribution at Farmer Level” mentioned that 14 potato varieties were registered under the project in the last three years to assess their lifespan, yield, dry matter content, nutritional value, and suitability for cultivation in the local climate. Over the past four years, the government has distributed 4,200 metric tonnes of sunshine potato seeds due to high demand, and this year, they plan to distribute 8,000 metric tonnes of potato seeds.
