Potato
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop. Priced from mandis across India.
₹78,000–₹1.2 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹22,000–₹61,000 an acre a season
- Suits: Rain is enough
- Needs care: Warm in October
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain is enough in a normal year. Keep one irrigation ready for a dry year.
Needs about 340 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 410 mm it can use in a normal year (210 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 40 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 32 °C / 24 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 30 °C / 23 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 29 °C / 22 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 30 °C / 21 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Potato: 7 out of 10 (okay).
Not in the score: organic carbon, sulphur and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 5.0–6.2.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 102 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).
Mandi price at last season's harvest (January–February 2026): about ₹950 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹1,000 a quintal, the middle of 649 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹47,000 a season after typical costs.
- ₹1,060 2021
- ₹1,370 2022
- ₹1,100 2023
- ₹2,050 2024
- ₹1,250 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
-
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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
Short of potassium Your soil is likely short of potassium.
Add about a quarter more potash (MOP) than the usual dose.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.