Potato

A winter crop. Sow in Oct–Nov, harvest in Jan–Feb.

Check it on your land

Season

Rabi

JJASONDJFMAM

Sowing Growing Harvest

96% of its area.

Ready in

105 days

about 3½ months

Water

300–330 mm

of water over its season (rain plus irrigation)

Grows best at

15–25 °C

0 °C survives 7–30 °C 40 °C

When to sow and harvest

Rabi 96% of its area

Today: rabi sowing time

Sow Harvest

JJun JJul AAug SSep OOct NNov DDec JJan FFeb MMar AApr MMay

Sow Growing Harvest

The year starts in June, with the monsoon. Your district can shift a few weeks.

Sowing Growing Harvest

Will it grow on your land?

Kasaragod Kerala

We don't judge Potato for that season. Pick another season.

What it needs

Temperature

15–25 °C

best 15–25° 7° 30°

0 °C40 °C

Survives 7–30 °C. Frost hurts it.

Water

300–330 mm over its season

Rain and irrigation together, worked out where most of it grows:

Hooghly Paschim Medinipur Purba Bardhaman Agra Kannauj

Soil pH

best 5–6.2

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes slightly acidic soil. Grows from pH 4.2 to 8.5.

Soil

No salty soil
Ordinary farm soil is fine
N Needs plenty of nitrogen and potassium

How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°); TerraClimate 1991–2020 temperature normals (about 4 km), where each district's villages are.

Fertiliser for one acre

Draft: check with your Krishi Vigyan Kendra

For most fields

Urea nitrogen

131 kg about 3 bags of 45 kg

DAP phosphate

70 kg about 1½ bags of 50 kg

MOP potash

67 kg about 1¼ bags of 50 kg

Give the DAP and MOP at sowing, and the urea in two or three doses. If your soil card says a nutrient is low, add about a quarter more of it.

Watch out for

Draft: check with your Krishi Vigyan Kendra

Late blight

Disease

Look for

Dark water-soaked patches on leaves with white mould underneath in cool, cloudy weather; a field can collapse within days.

What to do first

Plant healthy seed. When the weather turns cool and cloudy, spray mancozeb before it shows; once it appears, switch to metalaxyl with mancozeb or cymoxanil. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.
Early blight

Disease

Look for

Brown spots with rings on the older leaves.

What to do first

Feed the crop well; spray mancozeb when spots appear. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.
Black scurf

Disease

Look for

Black crusts on tubers that don't wash off; weak sprouts.

What to do first

Plant clean, treated seed tubers and rotate crops.
Cutworm

Pest

Look for

Young plants cut off at the base at night; grey caterpillars curled in the soil.

What to do first

Plough well and keep the field free of weeds; treat the soil as your KVK advises.

What an acre earns

At India's average yield and a recent price, named below. Your land, water and mandi will differ.

Left an acre, a season

₹41,800

Yield India's average: 100.9 quintals an acre
× Price harvest price last season (Jan–Feb 2026): ₹950 a quintal
= Income: ₹95,900
− Costs about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys: −₹54,100
= Left: ₹41,800

This week potato sells at about ₹1,000 a quintal: India's middle price at 676 mandis, latest 13 Nov. At that price an acre would leave about ₹46,800 a season.

A good year or field earns about a fifth more, a poor one a fifth less: ₹76,700 to ₹1,15,000 income an acre. Costs stay the same either way.

Work it out for your land

Mandi price, month by month

Best month

December, ₹1,200 a quintal

Lowest

March, ₹843 a quintal

₹843

₹1,200

JJan FFeb MMar AApr MMay JJun JJul AAug SSep OOct NNov DDec

Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis: each month's latest price (Dec 2025–Nov 2026).

Latest prices near Kasaragod Today's price across India

Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India: 59.4 lakh acres; 2025-26
Average yield: 100.9 quintals an acre (24.9 tonnes a hectare); 2025-26
Most area: Uttar Pradesh; 29% of India's
Best yield: Aligarh; 144 quintals an acre

States that grow it

Each state's share of India's production, in its latest year with figures (2025-26). Tap a state to open it.

Uttar Pradesh 34% 2.0 crore tonnes West Bengal 23% 1.4 crore tonnes Bihar 13% 77.4 lakh tonnes Gujarat 8.6% 51.8 lakh tonnes Madhya Pradesh 6.8% Punjab 5.7%

23 other states 9.1%

Uttar Pradesh 34% 2.0 crore tonnes West Bengal 23% 1.4 crore tonnes Bihar 13% 77.4 lakh tonnes Gujarat 8.6%

25 other states 22%

Source: Horticulture area & production statistics (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).

Where it grows most

The districts with the most area in recent years. The map colours every district growing it on at least 100 ha by yield; the numbers mark these districts.

Potato yield, quintals an acre (average of 2018-19 to 2022-23 in most districts)

1.8–33
34–52
53–83
84–111
112–144

No data

1 Numbers match the list: the districts with the most area.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2018-19 to 2022-23.

Where yields are highest

Districts growing it on at least 100 ha, against the average across India. The line runs from India's average to each district.

Soil and yield

How district soil tests line up with this crop's yields across India.

Potato yields tend to be higher in districts with

More soil that is neutral moderate 380 districts

Potato yields tend to be lower in districts with

More soil that is acidic strong 380 districts

A pattern is not proof that soil causes the difference.

Source: Soil Health Card – soil nutrient analysis (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).