Potato
Sow in October, harvest around February
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 771 acres here. Sold at 6 mandis in your district.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Suits: Frost risk in December
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 300 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 0 mm it can use in a normal year, and 0 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 15–25 °C on average, and survives 7–30 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 35 °C / 19 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 29 °C / 12 °C
- Dec 23 °C / 7 °C
- Jan 20 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Nights in December can bring frost. When frost is forecast, water the field lightly in the evening.
Soil
Soil for Potato: 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 5.0–6.2.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 71 quintals an acre here (district figures).
Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹700 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹800 a quintal, the middle of 25 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹700 2021
- ₹900 2022
- ₹800 2023
- ₹1,600 2024
- ₹1,000 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in June.
Typical costs are about ₹64,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.
How to make it work
-
Short of organic carbon Your soil is likely short of organic carbon.
Add 4 tonnes of compost or farmyard manure per acre before sowing, and plough crop leftovers back in instead of burning them.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 96%
- Urea 33%