Cultivation of wheat has hit the lowest on record in the current season in Bangladesh as many producers opted to grow potato and other high-value crops on land previously used for the second most important staple food after rice.

During the current fiscal year of 2024-25, acreage of wheat fell 8 percent year-on-year to 2.87 lakh hectares of land, according to provisional estimates by the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).

That means it was cultivated on 3.11 lakh hectares of land a year ago.

This is the second consecutive year that wheat acreage has fallen, marking a gradual decline since FY16, when total acreage stood at 4.44 lakh hectares, the highest in nearly two decades.

Bangladesh cultivated the cereal on 8.88 lakh hectares in FY99, the highest in 37 years.

Agriculturists and farmers said multiple factors are responsible for the falling appetite of farmers toward wheat cultivation. Lower profits than maize, potato and other high-value vegetables is one of these factors.

Take Sazzad Selim, a farmer in Rosea village of Atwari under the north-western bordering district of Panchagarh, who cultivated wheat on a five-acre plot last year.

During the current year, he allocated all of his land for maize, cultivation of which has expanded rapidly over the past two and a half decades driven by demand from feed mills catering to domestic poultry, aquaculture and livestock farms.

"We can make higher profits than wheat if we grow maize and potato," he said.

The farmer was able to earn Tk 36,000 from each acre of land used for growing maize last year, whereas the amount of profit from the cultivation of wheat on the same area of land was Tk 20,000.

The major difference is the yield between wheat and maize, which brought him higher profit, though prices of wheat were much higher than maize.

Selim said, on an average, 40 maunds to 45 maunds (1 maund = 37.65 kg) of wheat can be harvested from one acre of land. In contrast, the same piece of land can provide a yield of 120 maunds to 150 maunds of maize.

During last year's harvest, each maund of wheat was sold for Tk 1,250 to Tk 1,350, whereas a maund of maize was sold for Tk 800, according to the farmer.

In its Grain and Feed update on Bangladesh in December 2024, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said wheat acreage and production have been stagnant for several years.

It cited that this was due to a lack of improved seed varieties, disease and pest infestations during cultivation as well as competition with other profitable crops during the same season.

The DAE's estimate showed that both maize and potato area has increased this fiscal year as farmers switched to the crops.

Winter maize acreage gained 4 percent year-on-year to 5.66 lakh hectares in the current FY25 from the previous year.

And encouraged by record high prices of potato last year, farmers cultivated potato on 5.24 lakh hectares in FY25, the highest on record, up 14 percent year-on-year, according to the DAE estimate.

Amzad Hossain, another farmer of Farabari village in Thakurgaon upazila, another major area for wheat cultivation, said he cultivated potatoes on two bighas of land and maize on three bighas this season.

"However, just two to three years ago, I used to cultivate wheat on all this land," he said.

Bangladesh produced 11.72 lakh tonnes of wheat in FY24. The nation's average wheat production has been roughly 11 lakh tonnes for the last seven years, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

The USDA said Bangladesh's local production accounts for 15 percent of the total demand, forecasted at 77 lakh tonnes for the current FY25. The rest is imported.

Wheat planting in Bangladesh begins in early December and harvesting takes place in the March-April period the following year.

Md Abdul Hakim, principal scientific officer and head of the wheat breeding division of the Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI), said it was crop competition in which wheat was losing.

"This year's acreage is the lowest in history. You will see potatoes on miles after miles of fields where wheat was grown last year. You cannot imagine. Many small farmers have planted potato even by borrowing," he added.

Hakim said Panchagarh and Thakurgaon were major wheat cultivation areas. However, maize acreage has declined drastically in the greater Dinajpur district, he said.

"On the other hand, we have seen higher wheat acreage in Rajshahi, Jashore, and the greater Kushtia districts," he said.

Wasim Royal, a resident in Darshana upazila of the western district of Chuadanga, said acreage of the grain increased this year in his area because there was no pest infestation in the wheat crop cultivated by farmers last year.

In 2016, wheat blast struck the crop fields in southwestern Bangladesh in its first outbreak in Asia.

The disease affected over 1 lakh hectares of area, costing the country a financial loss of at least Tk 1,800 crore in terms of lost yields in that year, according to experts.

"Wheat was almost out in our area because of blast disease. The crop has returned to our area," Royal added.