The Organic
Revival
Vegetables · Tuber

Growing potato

Solanum tuberosum · also called Aloo, Olu (Kashmiri)A cool season tuber crop planted from seed tubers on ridges. It needs cool nights to form tubers and is hurt by frost.

North-west plains: Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
A flowering potato plant with white flowers and a lifted tuber resting on its leaves
Photo: Forest & Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0

At a glance

Potato in the North-west plains

  • Season

    Main autumn crop planted late September to mid-October; a short spring crop planted in late January3,4

  • Sowing to last picking

    The autumn crop of the western plains runs about 100 to 120 days.4

  • Sow

    Last week of September to mid-October3,5

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Too late this season

The window here was Last week of September to mid-October. The next one opens in January.

Sowing now in:Gangetic plainsCentral plateauDeccan plateauSouth interiorEast coast
  • Sow
  • Harvest
  • Today
  • Not suited here
North-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunTemperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, Kullu
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and SpitiSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanNot suited hereEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
North-west plainsLast week of September to mid-OctoberSecond half of JanuaryFebruary to MarchApril
Temperate HimalayaMid-March to AprilApril to MayJanuary to FebruarySeptember to OctoberSeptember to OctoberMay to June
Cold desertApril to MaySeptember to October
Sub-tropical foothillsSeptember to OctoberSecond half of JanuaryJanuary to FebruaryApril to May
Gangetic plainsMid-OctoberEnd of October to mid-NovemberEarly NovemberFebruary to MarchJanuary to February
North-east hills and valleysMarch to AprilJuly to August
Arid westMid-OctoberMid-SeptemberFebruary to MarchMid-November to December
Central plateauMid-October to NovemberEnd of JuneFebruary to MarchSeptember to October
Deccan plateauEnd of June to JulyMid-October to NovemberSeptember to OctoberFebruary to March
South interiorMarch to AprilAugust to SeptemberJanuary to FebruaryEnd of JuneMid-October to November
West coastNot suited here
East coastEarly NovemberOctober to NovemberJanuary to February

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Sunhemp or dhaincha3

    20 kg seed per acre · Sow from the end of June to the first week of July and plough it in 7 to 8 weeks later. · Green manure before planting

  2. Day 0

    Sow

    Farmyard manure (FYM), or the green manure above

    20 t per acre · Spread after preparatory tillage, just before planting.

    Paddy straw mulch

    25 q per acre · Spread over the field; PAU says it saves about 18 kg of nitrogen an acre and two irrigations.

  3. Day 14 to 28

    Seeds come up1,2,4Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  4. Day 100 to 120

    Last picking4

Water right after planting for even sprouting, then give light, repeated waterings, about 7 to 8 in all. Do not let water flow over the ridges and crust the soil. On drip, water every 2 days.3

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH1

    5.5 to 8

    Grows in alluvial, black, red and laterite soils. Alkaline and saline soils do not suit it.

  • Sunlight3

    Full sun. Grows well when days are sunny and nights are cool.

  • Temperature1

    Grows best at 15 to 20 °C

    Frost: none tolerated.

    Monthly temperatures for the North-west plains aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering3

Water right after planting for even sprouting, then give light, repeated waterings, about 7 to 8 in all. Do not let water flow over the ridges and crust the soil. On drip, water every 2 days.

Drip run times in PAU's schedule (2.2 litre per hour drippers 30 cm apart): 20 minutes in October, 25 in November, 45 in December, 20 in January.

Weeding3

A paddy straw mulch of 24 q per acre spread right after planting controls annual weeds. Earth up with a ridger 25 to 30 days after planting.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Green manure before plantingSunhemp or dhaincha20 kg seed per acreSow from the end of June to the first week of July and plough it in 7 to 8 weeks later.
Just before plantingFarmyard manure (FYM), or the green manure above20 t per acreSpread after preparatory tillage, just before planting.
After plantingPaddy straw mulch25 q per acreSpread over the field; PAU says it saves about 18 kg of nitrogen an acre and two irrigations.

Sources3

Varieties and yield

Typical rangeNo published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

25 to 35 tonnes a hectare

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Varieties grown here3

  • Kufri Pukhraj

    Early bulking, 70 to 90 days.

  • Kufri Surya

    Heat tolerant; for September planting.

  • Kufri Chandramukhi

    Early, 80 to 90 days.

  • Kufri Pushkar

    Medium, 90 to 100 days; keeps well.

  • Kufri Jyoti

    Medium; suits spring planting.

  • Kufri Badshah

    Late, 100 to 110 days.

  • Kufri Sindhuri

    Late, 110 to 120 days; red skin; keeps well.

  • Kufri Chipsona-1 and Kufri Chipsona-3

    For chips.

  • Kufri Frysona

    For French fries.

Good neighbours4Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Grows well with

Keep it away from

Pests and diseases3

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Cutworm (Agrotis species)

    Signs

    Cuts young plants at ground level in February and March in the spring crop, later bores into tubers.

    What to do

    • Remove weeds in and around the field before planting.

    Prevention

    • Plough in hot weather to expose immature stages to birds.

  • Pest

    Aphid (Myzus persicae) and jassid

    Signs

    Suck sap; leaves curl and bronze; aphids spread viruses and spoil seed crops.

    What to do

    • Clear weeds on bunds, waste land, roadsides and channels, where aphids build up.

    Prevention

    • Do not overuse nitrogen: heavily fed plants carry more aphids.

  • Disease

    Late blight (Phytophthora infestans)

    Signs

    Water-soaked spots on leaf margins turn black with white growth below in the morning; tubers get brown sunken patches and rot.

    What to do

    • Plant selected healthy tubers.
    • Bury infected or rejected tubers taken out of cold stores; never leave them in the open.
    • Ridge high to keep tubers covered.

  • Disease

    Black scurf (Rhizoctonia solani)

    Signs

    Rough black crusts on tubers; plants from them wilt.

    What to do

    • Use healthy seed.
    • Dip seed tubers for 10 minutes in wet Trichoderma formulation 10 g plus molasses 20 g per litre of water, then keep them in shade for 24 hours before planting.

  • Disease

    Mosaic and leaf roll viruses

    Signs

    Mottled, curled leaves and dwarf plants.

    What to do

    • Plant certified, virus-free seed tubers.
    • Raise your own seed by the seed plot technique and use it for 3 to 4 years.

  • Disease

    Common scab (Streptomyces scabies)

    Signs

    Deep round lesions 0.5 to 1 cm across on tubers.

    What to do

    • Use clean seed tubers.
    • Green manure before potato.
    • Keep the soil from drying between tuber formation and maturity.

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed1,3

Plant a seed crop from healthy, virus-free seed tubers. Pull out sick-looking plants as they appear. Renew seed every 3 to 4 years: yield falls when the same seed is replanted year after year.

When the seed is ready

Cut the haulms once aphids reach 20 per 100 leaves, then leave the tubers in the soil for about 15 days to mature.

Grade the tubers and keep them in cold storage at 2 to 4 °C until the next planting season.

After the last picking4

Punjab rotations include potato, wheat, maize; potato, wheat, paddy; and potato, wheat, green manure.

Collect and destroy crop debris and cull tubers; do not leave rejected tubers lying in the open.

Rotation

Grow potato in a rotation with cereals and pulses, for example potato, mung, paddy, rather than potato after potato.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 1Package of Practices for Vegetable Crops 2020 (Potato)Directorate of Extension, SKUAST-JammuRead the source
  2. 2Package of Practices for Vegetable Crops 2016 (Potato)Directorate of Extension, SKUAST-JammuRead the source
  3. 3Package of Practices for Cultivation of Vegetables 2021 (Potato)Punjab Agricultural University, LudhianaRead the source
  4. 4Potato: package of practices (source NHB)Vikaspedia (Government of India), citing National Horticulture BoardRead the source
  5. 5Production Technology of Vegetables and Flowers (VSF-231), Part I: Vegetable production (Potato)CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture)Read the source
  6. 6AESA based IPM package: PotatoNational Institute of Plant Health Management and Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, Government of IndiaRead the source
  7. 7Horticulture: Vegetables: Potato (TNAU Agritech Portal)Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source

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