Plant Pulse

When to plant Potato in Low Country Dry Zone

When to plant Potato in Low Country Dry Zone. A grower note is on file. Official planting windows are not stored for this pair.

Unverified — based on HORDI Crop – Potato, Department of Agriculture Sri Lanka, accessed 2026-10-23: https://doa.gov.lk/hordi-crop-potato/; confirm for your microclimate.

Stored planting windows

Official planting windows: coming soon.

From farmer field experience

Based on hands-on growing experience from Sri Lankan farmers. Not yet verified against official sources.

  • November–January

    Direct sow

    Farmer field experience. Using 85–110 stored days. Plant in Nov, first harvest about 85–110 days later (around February–March). Plant in Jan, first harvest around April–May. Calculated from the stored day count and the planting month. It is not a separate harvest calendar.

    Farmer field notenoted Oct 2026

    Low Country Dry Zone, November–January. Jaffna or Kalpitiya regosols are the situations named with this note. Planted from tubers.

    Unverified — based on Farmer field experience, noted 2026-10-23; confirm for your microclimate.

Season ranges

Two or more season ranges are stored. They are not joined. A month is marked only when it falls inside a stored range.

  • Yala is stored from more than one source, and the months do not match. Yala (FAO) is Mar–Aug. Yala (National Drought Plan) is Apr–Sep. Both ranges are shown. They are not averaged.
  • Maha is stored from more than one source, and the months do not match. Maha (FAO) is Sep–Feb. Maha (National Drought Plan) is Oct–Mar. Both ranges are shown. They are not averaged.

Agricultural seasons

  1. Yala (FAO): Mar–Aug (Agricultural)

    Improvement of plant nutrient management for better farmer livelihood, food security and environment in Sri Lanka, J.D.H. Wijewardena, Department of Agriculture, hosted by FAO, accessed 2026-10-20: https://www.fao.org/4/ag120e/AG120E12.htm

  2. Maha (FAO): Sep–Feb (Agricultural)

    Improvement of plant nutrient management for better farmer livelihood, food security and environment in Sri Lanka, J.D.H. Wijewardena, Department of Agriculture, hosted by FAO, accessed 2026-10-20: https://www.fao.org/4/ag120e/AG120E12.htm

  3. Yala (National Drought Plan): Apr–Sep (Agricultural)

    National Drought Plan for Sri Lanka, Ministry of Environment, September 2020, accessed 2026-10-20: https://www.unccd.int/sites/default/files/country_profile_documents/NDP%20of%20Sri%20Lanka-Final%20Report-Sept%202020.pdf

  4. Maha (National Drought Plan): Oct–Mar (Agricultural)

    National Drought Plan for Sri Lanka, Ministry of Environment, September 2020, accessed 2026-10-20: https://www.unccd.int/sites/default/files/country_profile_documents/NDP%20of%20Sri%20Lanka-Final%20Report-Sept%202020.pdf

Methodology

Where do these planting months come from?
Each range is a stored planting window for this crop and climate. A month that is not listed has no stored window. It is not a recommendation to skip planting.
Why can the same season appear more than once?
When two sources give different months for the same season, both ranges are listed. They are not averaged, and the gap between them is not filled in.
How are grower notes different from official windows?
Farmer field notes are labelled Farmer field experience, with the month they were noted. They are not official department windows, and they are not yet verified against official sources.

Potato crop page · Planting calendar for Potato in Low Country Dry Zone