Mettupalayam is one of the major trading centres in India.

Potato is a major food crop, grown in more than 100 countries in the world and it is one of the major commercial crops grown in India. India ranks third by contributing around 7.5% to the world’s production. During 2006-07, 27 million tonnes was produced in an area of about 1.5 million ha. However, potato consumption per capita in India (14.8 kg/head/year) is one of the lowest in the world and hardly one percent of the potato is processed.

Potato is a major vegetable widely consumed throughout Tamil Nadu whereas it is grown only in the hilly regions of Dindigul (2796 ha), Nilgiri (1950 ha), Krishnagiri (131 ha) and Erode (126 ha) districts.