'Prices of potato will be stable in harvest in Dec-Jan'

With farm gate prices of good quality potato expected to be around Rs 19 to Rs 21 per kg in December-January, farmers should take sowing decisions accordingly, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University said today.
Potato is sown during September-October and is harvested in December-January. There are two major varieties -- Kufri Jyoti and Jalandhar grown in Nilgiris district.
Potatoes arriving from other states like Gujarat, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh are kept in cold storage, mainly for seed purpose.
To help farmers in taking decision regarding potato sowing, the Agro Marketing Intelligence and Business Promotion Centre in TNAU analyzed prices of the past 23 years in Nilgiris Co-operative Marketing Society at nearby Mettupalayam, which revealed that prices would be around Rs 19 to Rs 21 per kg.

India produced 449 lakhs tonnes in 20.60 lakh hectares in 2014-15, which was eight per cent higher in production and four per cent higher in cultivated area, compared to 2013-14. The country ranked second after China in production during the period.
Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Assam and Bihar accounted for 85 per cent in total area and 90 per cent of the total production in 2014-15.

In the current year, potato cultivation area in Gujarat has increased as replacement to wheat crop.
In Tamil Nadu, the area under potato was 5,000 hectares and production was 1.27 lakh ton in 2014-15, which was five per cent higher in cultivated area and nine per cent increase in production compared to last year, it said.

Potato grown in Nilgiris fetch higher prices due to longer shelf-life without refrigeration compared to those grown in other states.