The market gets potato supplies generally from central parts of the country and to a smaller extent from neighbours like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Due to a massive crop failure in the central states, potato supply has been affected and the vegetable is likely to become dearer in the weeks to follow.

Already the prices of potatoes in the wholesale and the retail market have been slowly inching upward. The vegetable which was selling for Rs 3 to Rs 3.50 per kilogram in the wholesale market and for Rs 5 to Rs 6 in the retail market is now selling for Rs 12 in the wholesale market and for Rs 15 per kilogram in the retail market.

Traders expect that the price of the vegetable will go upto Rs 20 to Rs 25 per kilogram in the wholesale market in the following weeks. Which translates to anywhere between Rs 30 to Rs 35 on the retail market. Already they are looking foralternate states for supply but apparently the northern states also are facing an acute shortage of potatoes due to a crop failure in states like Punjab and Haryana.

Another state worst hit by the shortage is West Bengal. Ideally there should have been no shortage in the state but outflows to far flung areas like Uttar Pradesh and even Madhya Pradesh, where the crop has failed, have contributed to the rising prices in a big way.