Planting

In the northern Indo Gangetic plains the autumn season is the main potato season.  An early crop is also taken in many places to take advantage of the high prices of the early crop.  At some places especially in the western Indo Gangetic plains a late winter/spring crop is also raised.  The date of planting is temperature dependent.  In the main crop, planting starts when the maximum temperature is between 30-320 C while in the case of the late winter crop planting coincides with the period when minimum temperature is above frosting temperatures and the temperatures start warming up.  The optimum date of planting in the different locations and season is given in table.  Apart from the time of planting, yield is also affected by the method of planting.  The method adopted is also dependent to a certain extent upon the weather/season so that the adverse effect of temperature/moisture could be mitigated and maximum use of resources made.

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