The potato farmers have been advised by TNAU to go in for sowing in February-March period as prices of good quality potato would be around Rs 25-27 per kg in May-June. After analyzing price behavior of potato in last 23 years in Nilgiris Cooperative Marketing Society in Mettupalayam, the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University’s (TNAU) Agro Marketing Intelligence and Business Promotion Centre arrived at the above price.
The area and production of potato in Tamil Nadu was 5,350 hectares and 1.16 lakh tonnes in 2013-14, an increase of 35% and 34%, respectively, as compared to last year. Potatoes in the state are mainly grown in hilly districts of Dindigul, Nilgiris, Krishnagiri and Erode and also arrive from other states like Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh and are stored in cold storage only for seed purpose.
India produced 46.39 million tonnes (MT) of potato over an area of 2.024 million hectares in 2013-14. Uttar Pradesh with 32%, West Bengal with 26% and Bihar with 14% accounted for more than 70% of total production.