India: Punjab’s Seed Potato Calendar Keeps Aphids and Viruses at Bay
Punjab's seed potato calendar — planting in early October, haulm cutting by late December — keeps aphid-borne viruses out of India's largest certified seed program.
Punjab, the heartland of India’s certified seed potato production, follows a strict seasonal discipline: seed crops are planted in the first fortnight of October and haulms are cut by late December, ending growth before aphid populations build in January.
The calendar is epidemiological, not administrative: cutting haulms before aphid flights peak keeps virus incidence below certification thresholds, which is what allows Punjab seed to supply ware producers across northern India.
India’s potato output — the world’s second largest — rests on this seed pipeline, and any slippage in the schedule cascades into ware crops planted the following autumn across the Indo-Gangetic plain.
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State officials continue to push area under certification upward, betting that quality seed is the fastest route to raising national yields that remain well below European benchmarks.
Sources: IndianPotato.com — Punjab; IndianPotato.com, 18 Jul 2026; Potato Grower, 22 Jul 2024 (FAO data)
