Potato
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 40 acres here. Sold at 2 mandis in your district.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 4 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 4 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 330 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 0 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 150 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 15–25 °C on average, and survives 7–30 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 33 °C / 19 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 30 °C / 15 °C
- Dec 26 °C / 11 °C
- Jan 24 °C / 9 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Potato: 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of iron.
Likes pH 5.0–6.2.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 82 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (your district's own figure looked wrong).
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 (January–February 2026): about ₹625 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹800 a quintal, the middle of 25 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹800 2021
- ₹1,200 2022
- ₹1,000 2023
- ₹1,800 2024
- ₹1,200 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in May.
Typical costs are about ₹56,000 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
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 124 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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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.
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Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
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):
- Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) 61%
- Urea 61%