Potato Sowing in Punjab: Finish by 31 October 2026, 1,200 to 1,500 kg Seed an Acre

Finish sowing the autumn potato crop in Punjab by 31 October 2026. The Punjab Agriculture Department's advice for 16 to 31 October sets 1,200 to 1,500 kg of seed an acre, seed taken out of cold store 10 to 12 days early, and 2.25 bags of DAP, 1.5 bags of urea and 2 bags of SOP at land preparation.

October is potato month in Punjab. The department calls the whole of October the best time to sow and asks farmers to complete it by the end of the month for a better yield. The advice applies across the province. We read the department's Urdu advisory for 16 to 31 October 2026, signed by Shahbaz Akhtar, Director General Agriculture (Extension) Punjab, and give it here in plain English. With about ten days left in the window on 20 October, the points that matter most are seed handling and the fertiliser bill.

October is the sowing window and the department wants it done by 31 October

The department says the whole of October is the best time to sow autumn potatoes in Punjab, and that farmers should complete sowing by the end of October for a better yield. A crop sown later meets cold nights earlier and has less time to bulk up.

Late sowing has a second cost. A younger crop is more exposed when winter fog and cold nights set in. PMD publishes last night's lowest temperature for each city every day, which helps you judge the risk.

Use 1,200 to 1,500 kg of seed an acre, and only certified seed

For the autumn crop, the department sets a seed rate of 1,200 to 1,500 kg an acre. It asks for disease-free certified seed. That is 24 to 30 bags of 50 kg, by our arithmetic, so seed is usually the largest cost of the crop.

Potato seed is not true seed. It is whole or cut tubers from an earlier crop, so any disease in the tuber goes straight into your field. That is why the department insists on certified seed, which has been inspected. If you doubt a batch, you can get seed tested at a Punjab government lab.

Fresh potatoes will not sprout until their dormancy breaks

A freshly dug potato will not sprout well, because it is dormant. The department says this dormancy must break before sowing, and that it ends on its own after the tubers lie for 8 to 10 weeks. So last season's fresh harvest is not suitable as seed for this crop.

Cold-stored seed needs a different step. The department says to take seed out of cold store at least 10 to 12 days before sowing and keep it in shade. That lets it adjust to the outside temperature and lets sprouts start to grow. Seed planted straight from the cold store is slow to come up.

1. Book certified seed now, 1,200 to 1,500 kg for each acre.
2. Take the seed out of cold store 10 to 12 days before sowing.
3. Keep it in shade, not sun, until small sprouts show.
4. Apply all the fertiliser at land preparation.
5. Sow before 31 October.

Fertiliser goes in at land preparation, with zinc in both options

The department's first option is 2.25 bags of DAP, 1.5 bags of urea, 2 bags of SOP and 10 kg of zinc sulphate (21 per cent) an acre at land preparation. The second option is 5 bags of nitrophos, 2 bags of SOP and the same 10 kg of zinc sulphate.

The costs are our arithmetic from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics average retail prices for the week to 8 October 2026: DAP Rs 17,127.78, urea Rs 4,779.51, SOP Rs 15,422.22 and NP fertiliser Rs 10,617.65 a bag. We have taken NP as the nitrophos price. Zinc sulphate is not on the PBS list, so it is left out. On those prices option 1 is about Rs 7,400 cheaper an acre. Urea and DAP prices rose through September and early October, so book early.

Potatoes take a lot of potash, which is why both options carry two bags of SOP. SOP is sulphate of potash. Farmyard manure supplies some of the trace elements, so the iron, manganese and boron line applies only where no manure was used.

The department lists 12 local and 6 imported-type varieties

The advisory names PRI Red, Ruby, Sadaf, Sialkot Red, SH-5, Sahiwal Safaid, Sahiwal Surkh, Cosmo, Ravi, Sutlej, Kashmir and Punjab as the best varieties. It also allows certified seed of Kuroda, Simply Red, Asterix, Santé, Musica and Lady Rosetta.

The names are our English spelling of the Urdu list, so check the exact name on the seed bag. Market prices are low this year: retail potatoes averaged Rs 50.15 a kilo in the week to 8 October 2026, 39.51 per cent less than a year earlier, in the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics vegetable prices for that week. Pick by your buyer as much as by yield. A farmer with a contract from a chips factory should grow the variety named in it.

If you need credit for seed and fertiliser, check the Punjab Kissan Card, which can be used at registered dealers.

Common questions

When should potatoes be sown in Punjab?

The Punjab Agriculture Department says the whole of October is best, and sowing should be finished by 31 October.

How much potato seed is needed per acre?

1,200 to 1,500 kg an acre for the autumn crop, using disease-free certified seed.

Can I use freshly dug potatoes as seed?

No. Fresh tubers are dormant and sprout poorly. The department says dormancy ends after 8 to 10 weeks of storage.

What fertiliser does an acre of potatoes need?

2.25 bags of DAP, 1.5 bags of urea, 2 bags of SOP and 10 kg of zinc sulphate at land preparation, or 5 bags of nitrophos with the same SOP and zinc.

Which potato varieties does Punjab recommend?

Local varieties including PRI Red, Sialkot Red and Sahiwal Surkh, and certified seed of types such as Asterix, Santé and Lady Rosetta.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

We read the Punjab Agriculture Department's farm advisory for 16 to 31 October 2026, listed on its crop advisory page, on 20 October 2026. It is a scanned Urdu document, which we read page by page and translated ourselves. Fertiliser prices are Pakistan Bureau of Statistics averages for 8 October 2026; the costs per acre are our arithmetic. We could not check seed potato prices, zinc sulphate prices or the districts where each variety does best.