Nepal: Potato Output Triples to 3.52 Million Tonnes Since 2000, but Yields Stay at 16.7 t/ha
Nepal harvested 3.52 million tonnes of potatoes in 2023/24 on 211,505 hectares. Output has tripled since 2000, yet the average yield of 16.65 t/ha remains below India and China.
Nepal harvested 3,521,794 tonnes of potatoes in 2023/24, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD). The crop covered 211,505 hectares. The average yield was 16.65 t/ha. FAOSTAT, published by Our World in Data, shows the same volume for 2024.
In 2000, Nepal produced 1.18 million tonnes, according to FAOSTAT. The yield was then 9.6 t/ha. Output has therefore roughly tripled in 24 years.
Ten years of steady gains
The ministry series starts in 2014/15. That season, farmers harvested 2,586,287 tonnes from 197,037 hectares. The yield was 13.13 t/ha. Since then, output has grown by about 36%. The area grew by only about 7%.
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The yield peaked at 17.20 t/ha in 2021/22. It slipped to 17.11 t/ha in 2022/23 and 16.65 t/ha in 2023/24. In the last season, the area jumped by about 7,700 hectares. Output rose by just 1%.
Where the potatoes grow
Koshi Province is the largest producer. It harvested 1,022,952 tonnes from 62,174 hectares in 2023/24. That is about 29% of the national crop. Bagmati followed with 750,618 tonnes. Madhesh produced 496,372 tonnes.
Yields differ widely between provinces. Bagmati reached 18.73 t/ha and Sudurpashchim 18.44 t/ha. Madhesh, in the southern plains, averaged only 14.35 t/ha. Karnali averaged 15.23 t/ha.
Jhapa in Koshi is the largest potato district. It planted 15,795 hectares and harvested 258,564 tonnes. Kavre in Bagmati harvested 209,070 tonnes from 10,100 hectares.
The gap with neighbours
Nepal still trails its large neighbours. FAOSTAT shows an average yield of 24.6 t/ha in India and 20.8 t/ha in China in 2024. Nepalese growers would need about 50% more per hectare to match India.
Why it matters
Growth over the past decade came mostly from yield, not land. Yet yields have stalled for three seasons. The 2023/24 gain came almost entirely from extra area.
The spread between provinces shows where the gains could come from. If Madhesh reached the Bagmati yield, it would produce about 150,000 tonnes more on the same land.
Photo: A potato field in the hills of Nepal (illustrative). Nirajan_pant / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
