Potato
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 12 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
- Needs care: Very hot in October
- 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 370 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 0 mm it can use in a normal year, and 0 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 15–25 °C on average, and survives 7–30 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 38 °C / 21 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 34 °C / 14 °C
- Dec 29 °C / 10 °C
- Jan 27 °C / 8 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Days in October get hotter than it likes. Time sowing so it flowers before then.
Soil
Soil for Potato: 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen, sulphur and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of zinc.
- Most fields here are short of iron.
Likes pH 5.0–6.2.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 82 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (no recent yield figures for your district).
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 ₹825 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹800 a quintal, the middle of 25 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹930 2021
- ₹1,300 2022
- ₹1,000 2023
- ₹1,880 2024
- ₹1,190 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
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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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.