Potato
Sow in October, harvest around June
Grown on 607 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 6 irrigations short
- Needs care: Frost risk in November
- 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 590 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 330 mm it can use in a normal year, and 230 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 23 °C / 7 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 17 °C / 2 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 10 °C / -2 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 7 °C / -3 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 10 °C / 0 °C (outside its best range)
- Mar 16 °C / 4 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 21 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
- May 25 °C / 12 °C
- Jun 28 °C / 16 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Nights in November 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).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of zinc.
- Most fields here are short of iron.
Likes pH 5.0–6.2.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 63 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 ₹1,050 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹950 a quintal, the middle of 4 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹1,300 2021
- ₹1,580 2022
- ₹1,350 2023
- ₹2,130 2024
- ₹1,390 2025
Prices are usually best in August.
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
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 53 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of zinc Your soil is likely short of zinc.
Mix 10 kg of zinc sulphate per acre into the soil before sowing. One dose lasts two or three seasons.
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):
- Urea 100%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 97%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 50%