When to plant Sweet potato in Kurmi

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Sweet potato

Taraba, Nigeria

Known here as anamo · ọ̀dùnkún

Sweet potato is a trailing vine you grow from vine cuttings (slips), not from seed and not by planting the root.

Sweet potato in Kurmi, rain-fed and with irrigation
Measure Rain-fed With irrigation
Fit Favourable
When to plant 11 May 2027 – 19 Aug 2027 opens in 32 weeks 10 Jun 2027 – 19 Jun 2027
Expected harvest about 15.8 t/ha about 12.9 t/ha
Harvest From 9 Aug 2027 to 16 Jan 2028, depending on the planting date
Ready to harvest 90–150 days after planting
Work it takes 70–148 days per hectare, by hand

Rain-fed. These dates are worked out from each place's own rainfall, for a field watered by the season — with irrigation a window can open earlier, close later, or come round more than once a year. Check your own field under What grows, or get the Divisi app for a calendar dated to your farm.

If you only get one chance to plant, aim for around 11 May 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.

This season's rainfall outlook for Kurmi is close to normal, so these dates match the pattern the area usually follows.

Planting after 19 Aug 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.

What decides this in Kurmi

Rain and temperature 96%
The soil 76%
The lie of the land 45%

For sweet potato in Kurmi, the lie of the land is the tightest of the three at 45%. You cannot flatten it, but you can farm it: plant along the contour rather than up and down, ridge or tie ridges to hold water on the slope, and expect shallower rooting than the crop would manage on flat ground.

The 2026 season in Kurmi

Rainy seasonsOne each year — one chance to plant, so timing carries it
When the rains are expectedMarch 2026 to November 2026
Rain in a typical yearAbout 1,489 mm
This season's rainRain close to usual — plan around about 1,489 mm falling roughly when it always does
This season's heatHotter than usual — about +0.9 °C over the growing months. Heat makes the same rain do less, so a dry spell bites sooner: do not plant late, and shade or mulch what you can.
What that supportsenough rain for one full main crop, warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season
Ground this coversOne kind of ground throughout.

last updated 16 September 2026

Sloping ground holds back about 35% of yield here.

What sweet potato needs to grow here

Soil it likes well-drained sandy, sandy loam or loam soil
Soil sourness (pH) Happiest between pH 5.0 and 6.5
Rain it needs About 750–1,000 mm across the season
Spacing 100 cm between rows, 30 cm between plants
Feed it most with potassium and nitrogen

What it takes to grow sweet potato in Kurmi

Planting materialAbout 33,000 plants per hectare
Nitrogen (N)About 63 kg per hectare
Phosphate (P₂O₅)About 24 kg per hectare
Potash (K₂O)About 126 kg per hectare
In the shopsA basal compound at planting — Compound D, or an NPK blend — covers the phosphate and potash. A nitrogen top dressing — urea or AN — goes on once the crop is established.
Hand work70–148 days per hectare, by hand

These are the nutrients a sweet potato crop of that size carries off the field. What you actually apply depends on what your soil already holds — which is what a soil test, or the app's field records, tell you.

What to watch for

Pest/disease risk — manageableSteep slope

Grow Sweet potato with a plan, not a guess

Everything above describes Kurmi as a whole — your own soil, slope and rainfall will shift the dates. The Divisi app works them out for your field, and dates each job that follows.

Or check your field first

Sweet potato in nearby districts

This calendar moves

Planting windows shift with the forecast. Leave your email and we'll send what changed, and a note when planting time nears — a couple of emails a month at most.

Frequently asked questions

Will sweet potato grow well in Kurmi?

Kurmi rates as favourable for sweet potato.

When should I plant sweet potato in Kurmi?

Typically 11 May 2027 to 19 Aug 2027, forecast-adjusted.

Is this exact for my own field?

No — these are readings taken across Kurmi, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.

Also worth considering in Kurmi

Keep going

Timing is one question. What the crop needs at every stage, what attacks it and where to sell it are the others.