Potato
Sow in November, harvest around March
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 11,631 acres here. Sold at 10 mandis in your district.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 3 irrigations short
- Suits: Frost risk in January
- 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 280 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 10 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 140 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):
- Nov 27 °C / 12 °C
- Dec 22 °C / 7 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 19 °C / 7 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 23 °C / 10 °C
- Mar 29 °C / 15 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Nights in January can bring frost. When frost is forecast, water the field lightly in the evening.
Soil
Soil for Potato: 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 5.0–6.2.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 100 quintals an acre here (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 (April 2026): about ₹400 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹700 a quintal, the middle of 3 mandis in your district (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹700 2021
- ₹1,000 2022
- ₹640 2023
- ₹1,350 2024
- ₹880 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in June.
Typical costs are about ₹68,000 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 115 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of organic carbon Your soil is likely short of organic carbon.
Add 4 tonnes of compost or farmyard manure per acre before sowing, and plough crop leftovers back in instead of burning them.
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%
- Zinc Sulphate Heptahydrate / Monohydrate 100%