Potato

Potatoes are a food item that can be planted, consumed or cooked in a furnace to make baked potatoes.

Farming
Potatoes can be farmed and harvested on farmland, the same way as farming wheat and carrots. When farmed, they will take 8 stages to grow. However, every two stages has the same texture, so only 4 stages are seen. Fully grown potato crops drop 1 to 4 potatoes and have a 2% chance of dropping an additional poisonous potato. As of Minecraft 1.5, potato yield can now be increased using a tool with the Fortune enchantment; previously Fortune had no effect on potatoes. Currently, potatoes can be found as a rare drop from zombies and also in NPC Villages alongside wheat and carrots. Bone meal can be used to (as of 1.5, it may take a few applications of bone meal) mature the potato to its last stage of growth.

As a cooking ingredient
Baked potatoes can be obtained by cooking the raw potatoes in an oven with some kind of fuel. A pair of saplings or a plank is recommended for maximum cooking efficiency.