AHMEDABAD: Gujarat’s Banaskantha has mashed Agra in potato production, taking the No. 1 rank in the country. Union agriculture ministry’s ‘District-wise Estimation of Production and Area of Fruits, Vegetables and Crops in India’ has revealed that Banaskantha has produced 17.10 lakh MT of potatoes, which is 9% of the total production in the country. Gujarat is followed by Agra which has produced 15.84 lakh MT of potatoes. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lauded the farmers of Deesa for their potato yield and their progressive agricultural practices.The McAloo Tikki burger, French fries, and potato wedges — among the most beloved fast food items — all contain the delicious ‘grown in Gujarat’ element. Potatoes for these menu toppers come from farms of Deesa of Banaskantha district. Potatoes are sourced from farmers by McCain Foods , a Canadian multi-national. Apart from McCain, a soft drink company and a local potato chip giant have contract farming deals for potatoes in the region, which have given high returns to the farmers.According to the data, the area of sowing was the highest in Muzaffarpur in Bihar, while Banaskantha was ranked third in the country on this count with a sowing area of 52,800 hectares.In Muzaffarpur, sowing took up 85,500 hectares. However, when it comes to production, Banaskantha was leading the chart.Rajesh Shah, a farmer in Deesa, said: “We have adapted drip irrigation and with the availability of water, the per hectare productivity has increased.” He said five years ago, the yield was around 20 tonnes per hectare. “But for the past two years, it has increased to over 28 tonnes per hectare.”Ashish Guru, the president of the Gujarat Cold Storage Association , said: “Climate in Banskantha is conducive to growing the crop. Besides, farmers here are open to changes.” He said that the district has perhaps the highest number of drip-irrigation users. “This has not only improved the yield has also improved the quality of the crop,” he saidThe cold storage capacity in Gujarat was boosted by approximately 6.25 lakh tonnes (1.25 crore bags of 50kg each). Currently, the capacity is 22.50 lakh tonnes. This also spurred the production of potatoes.