Potato
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 34 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
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 390 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 20 mm it can use in a normal year (10 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 31 °C / 21 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 30 °C / 17 °C
- Dec 29 °C / 14 °C
- Jan 30 °C / 15 °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 zinc.
Likes pH 5.0–6.2.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 72 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 ₹1,775 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹1,500 a quintal, the middle of 9 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹1,440 2021
- ₹2,050 2022
- ₹1,750 2023
- ₹2,790 2024
- ₹2,200 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in December.
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 92 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
-
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 100% of local fields of this crop get it.
-
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.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 100%
- Urea 100%
- Nitro Phosphate Potash 56%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 44%