Potato
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 125 acres here. Sold at 10 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: Ideal temperatures
- 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 320 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 120 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 34 °C / 20 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 30 °C / 13 °C
- Dec 25 °C / 9 °C
- Jan 23 °C / 9 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Potato: 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of boron.
Likes pH 5.0–6.2.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 128 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 ₹658 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹600 a quintal, the middle of 85 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹1,060 2021
- ₹1,330 2022
- ₹1,020 2023
- ₹1,890 2024
- ₹1,180 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in March.
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 118 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of nitrogen Your soil is likely short of nitrogen.
Add about a quarter more urea than the usual dose, in two or three splits. A pulse crop in rotation also adds nitrogen.
About 95% of local fields of this crop get it.
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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 boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
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):
- Urea 95%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 86%
- Zinc Sulphate Heptahydrate / Monohydrate 10%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 9%