When to plant Japanese mint mentha and how many cuttings can I take?

Japanese mint is usually planted from suckers (underground runners) in the cooler part of the year so the crop builds up before the warm season, with the main planting window in much of the north Indian mentha belt falling roughly in the winter to early spring period; confirm the exact local timing with your KVK because it shifts by region. It is commonly grown after a rabi crop and fits into rotations because of its short duration. You generally take more than one cutting: the first harvest comes a few months after planting, and with good irrigation and management a second cutting (ratoon) follows, so two harvests in a season is common. Mentha needs assured irrigation and responds to good moisture and nutrition, so it is not a dryland crop like lemongrass. Plant suckers in well prepared, well drained loamy soil, keep the field weed-free early on because weeds badly cut mentha yield, and harvest when the lower leaves start to mature and oil content is good. The herb is then distilled fresh. Because mentha needs water, fits between crops, and depends on a volatile oil price, plan it as part of your rotation with a clear distillation and selling arrangement rather than as a standalone gamble.