Potato
Sow in January, harvest around June
Grown on 1,012 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: 6 irrigations short
- Suits: Frost risk in January
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 6 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 520 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 230 mm it can use in a normal year, and 160 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):
- Jan 11 °C / 2 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 14 °C / 5 °C (outside its best range)
- Mar 19 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 24 °C / 12 °C
- May 28 °C / 16 °C
- Jun 29 °C / 18 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Nights in January can bring frost while the plants are young. Sow a little later, or cover the seedlings on cold nights.
Soil
Soil for Potato: 9 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: sulphur, zinc, iron and 3 more.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 5.0–6.2.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 33 quintals an acre here in this season (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 (June–July 2026): about ₹1,100 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹1,425 a quintal, the middle of 24 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹1,400 2021
- ₹1,900 2022
- ₹1,350 2023
- ₹2,550 2024
- ₹1,500 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in December.
Typical costs are about ₹74,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.
How to make it work
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Urea 24%