Potato
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 399 acres here. Sold at 4 mandis in your district.
₹78,000–₹1.2 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹22,000–₹61,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 3 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 3 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 370 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 70 mm it can use in a normal year (30 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 190 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 28 °C / 20 °C
- Nov 28 °C / 18 °C
- Dec 28 °C / 16 °C
- Jan 29 °C / 16 °C
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 sulphur.
- Most fields here are short of boron.
Likes pH 5.0–6.2.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 70 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 70% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 70% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (January–February 2026): about ₹1,975 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹2,288 a quintal, the middle of 2 mandis in your district (latest 11 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹57,000 a season after typical costs.
- ₹1,600 2021
- ₹2,040 2022
- ₹1,820 2023
- ₹2,670 2024
- ₹2,080 2025
Prices are usually best in February.
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 131 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 93% of local fields of this crop get it.
-
Short of sulphur Your soil is likely short of sulphur.
Use single super phosphate instead of DAP, or add about 100 kg of gypsum per acre before sowing.
About 16% of local fields of this crop get it.
-
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 93%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 81%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 46%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 16%