It is mostly used as a vegetable, a source of starch, and for other commercial purpose. Though not widely grown in home gardens, it can be a most satisfying producer. Two pounds of certified seed potatoes can give you fifty pounds of potatoes for eating. The potato is the staple food crop for many people around the world, people whose ancestors had subsisted upon grain crops for several thousand years prior. The reason for this change is that the potato is the best all-around source of nutrition known to mankind.
Exceptional productivity is another virtue of the potato.
A field of potatoes produces more energy per acre per day than a field of any other crop. It grows from sea level to 14,000 feet on a wider variety of soils, under a wider range of climatic conditions, than any other staple food. The potato matures faster than any other staple, in 90 to 120 days, and will provide small but edible tubers in just 60 days. All in all, the potato is just about the world's most efficient means of converting plant, land, water and labor into a palatable and nutritious food. The plant is bushy, sprawling and dark green with compound leaves that somewhat resemble those of its relative, the tomato.