National Potato Chip Day being celebrated on social media

Looking at the world’s top potato producing countries

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

Across various social media platforms, people are celebrating National Potato Chip Day.

Individuals are sharing their favourite flavors and pop culture references celebrating the beloved potato chip.

But without potato producers, there couldn’t even be a national day to honour the spud-based snack.

With that in mind, here’s a look at the top 10 potato-producing countries around the world in 2013. The data is from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

Country                                                         Production (tonnes)

1. China                                                           95,987,500
2. India                                                             45,343,600
3. Russia                                                          30,199,100
4. Ukraine                                                         22,258,600
5. United States                                                19,843,900
6. Germany                                                       9,669,700
7. Bangladesh                                                   8,603,000
8. France                                                           6,975,000
9. Netherlands                                                   6,801,000
10. Poland                                                           6,334,200

Photo: Brennan Woolley/Twitter

In the United States, there are five leading states when it comes to potato production, according to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. Combined, these states cultivate more than 14 million tonnes of potatoes.

State                                                              Production (tonnes)

1. Idaho                                                   7,077,782
2. Washington                                         5,365,997
3. Wisconsin                                           1,425,412
4. Colorado                                             1,127,710
5. North Dakota                                      1,056,688

Canada ranked 16^th in the world according to the FAO’s rankings. And in Canada, Prince Edward Island is the country’s potato capital.

Statistics Canada reports the country produced 4,780,047 tonnes of spuds in 2015. Prince Edward Island accounted for 1,127,177 tonnes.

Photo: Nick Ploeg/Twitter

Rounding out the top five in Canadian potato production are Manitoba (981,120 tonnes), Alberta (874,073 tonnes), New Brunswick (684,925 tonnes) and Quebec (595,023 tonnes).

Use the hashtag #NationalPotatoChipDay on social media to show your appreciation for the snack.

What’s your favourite flavour?