Potato

A winter crop. Sow in Oct–Nov, harvest in Jan–Feb.

Check it on your land
Season
Rabi
63% of its area. Also grown in kharif.
Ready in
105 days
about 3½ months
Water
310–320 mm
over its season
Temperature
15–25 °C
0° survives 7–30 °C 40°

When to sow and harvest

Rabi 63% of its area
Kharif 36% of its area
Today: rabi sowing time
J J A S O N D J F M A M
Sow Growing Harvest
The year starts in June, with the monsoon. Your district can shift a few weeks.

Will it grow on your land?

Water
Season

Pick a place and water to see if it suits your land, and what it earns.

What it needs

Temperature

15–25 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 7–30 °C.

Water

310–320 mm over its season
Hooghly Paschim Medinipur Purba Bardhaman Agra Kannauj

Worked out where most of it grows. Rain and irrigation together.

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes slightly acidic soil. Grows from pH 4.2 to 8.5.

Soil

  • No salty soil
  • Ordinary farm soil is fine
  • N Needs plenty of nitrogen and potassium
How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°).

Fertiliser for one acre

Draft: check with your KVK
Urea nitrogen
131 kg 3 bags of 45 kg
DAP phosphate
70 kg 1½ bags of 50 kg
MOP potash
67 kg 1½ bags of 50 kg

Give the DAP and MOP at sowing, and the urea in two or three doses. If your soil card says a nutrient is low, add about a quarter more of it.

Watch out for

Draft: check with your KVK
  • Late blight
    Disease

    Look for Dark water-soaked patches on leaves with white mould underneath in cool, cloudy weather; a field can collapse within days.

    First Plant healthy seed. When the weather turns cool and cloudy, spray mancozeb before it shows; once it appears, switch to metalaxyl with mancozeb or cymoxanil. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.

  • Early blight
    Disease

    Look for Brown spots with rings on the older leaves.

    First Feed the crop well; spray mancozeb when spots appear. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.

  • Black scurf
    Disease

    Look for Black crusts on tubers that don't wash off; weak sprouts.

    First Plant clean, treated seed tubers and rotate crops.

  • Cutworm
    Pest

    Look for Young plants cut off at the base at night; grey caterpillars curled in the soil.

    First Plough well and keep the field free of weeds; treat the soil as your KVK advises.

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
November, ₹1,500
Lowest
February, ₹950
₹950
₹1,500
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis.

Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
16,79,465 ha
2022-23
Average yield
28.6 t/ha
2022-23
Most area
Hooghly
West Bengal
Best yield
Aligarh
35.6 t/ha

States that grow it

Latest state figures for fruits, vegetables, spices and plantation crops.

  1. Uttar Pradesh 2,04,70,514 t (2025-26)
  2. West Bengal 1,35,60,697 t (2025-26)
  3. Bihar 77,36,622 t (2025-26)
  4. Gujarat 51,75,960 t (2025-26)
  5. Madhya Pradesh 40,64,250 t (2025-26)
  6. Punjab 34,23,000 t (2025-26)
  7. Haryana 10,30,320 t (2025-26)
  8. Assam 8,07,299 t (2025-26)
  9. Jharkhand 7,59,797 t (2025-26)
  10. Chhattisgarh 6,29,733 t (2025-26)

Source: Horticulture area & production statistics (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).

Districts with the most area (recent figures)

The map colours each district by yield, for districts growing it on at least 100 ha.

  1. Hooghly, West Bengal 89,621 ha
  2. Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal 70,086 ha
  3. Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal 66,341 ha
  4. Agra, Uttar Pradesh 64,088 ha
  5. Banas Kantha, Gujarat 50,189 ha
  6. Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh 50,064 ha
  7. Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh 50,044 ha
  8. Hathras, Uttar Pradesh 45,261 ha
  9. Indore, Madhya Pradesh 44,144 ha
  10. Bankura, West Bengal 39,370 ha

Potato yield

  1. 0.4–8.2 t/ha
  2. 8.2–12.7 t/ha
  3. 12.8–20.0 t/ha
  4. 20.1–27.5 t/ha
  5. 27.5–35.6 t/ha
No data

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2002-03 to 2022-23.

Where yields are highest

  1. Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh 35.6 t/ha
  2. Nadia, West Bengal 34.5 t/ha
  3. Agra, Uttar Pradesh 34.5 t/ha
  4. Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh 34.4 t/ha
  5. Paschim Bardhaman, West Bengal 34.3 t/ha
  6. Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh 34.2 t/ha
  7. Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh 34.0 t/ha
  8. Meerut, Uttar Pradesh 33.9 t/ha
  9. Malda, West Bengal 33.9 t/ha
  10. Hathras, Uttar Pradesh 33.7 t/ha

Only districts growing it on at least 100 ha.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2002-03 to 2022-23.

Across India over the years

Yield (t/ha)

0.0 14.3 28.6
2002-03 2022-23
Latest 28.6 t/ha in 2022-23

Area (ha)

1.2M 1.5M 1.8M
2002-03 2022-23
Latest 16,79,465 ha in 2022-23

Only years in which most of the usual districts reported are shown.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2002-03 to 2022-23.

Soil and yield

How district soil tests line up with this crop's yields across India.

  • Districts with more soil that is acidic tend to have lower potato yields (strong pattern, 388 districts).
  • Districts with more soil that is neutral tend to have higher potato yields (moderate pattern, 388 districts).
  • Districts with more soil low in nitrogen tend to have higher potato yields (moderate pattern, 386 districts).
  • Districts with more soil medium in nitrogen tend to have lower potato yields (moderate pattern, 386 districts).
  • Districts with more soil high in organic carbon tend to have lower potato yields (moderate pattern, 388 districts).
  • Districts with more soil low in organic carbon tend to have higher potato yields (moderate pattern, 388 districts).

A pattern is not proof that soil causes the difference.

Source: Soil Health Card – soil nutrient analysis (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).