The Agro Marketing Intelligence and Business Promotion Centre of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has predicted that the prices of good quality potatoes are expected to be between Rs.19 and Rs.21 per kilo in January.

Potatoes are currently being sold at Rs.20 to 23 per kilo at Mettupalayam, one of the largest wholesale markets in the region.

India is the second largest producer-consumer of potatoes in the world, at 12 percent of the total share, after China, which consumes about 22 percent of the total produce. In Tamil Nadu, potatoes are mainly cultivated on the hills of Dindigul, Nilgiris, Krishnagiri, and Erode districts. Sowing begins in September-October and the crop is harvested in December-January.

In 2014-15, Tamil Nadu had produced 94,340 tonnes of potato in 4,680 hectares.