Brinjal
Sow in October, harvest around March
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 41 acres here. Last recorded in 2015-16. Priced from mandis across India.
₹1.0 lakh–₹1.5 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹26,000–₹77,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 2 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 2 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 520 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 460 mm it can use in a normal year, and 220 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 20–35 °C on average, and survives 9–40 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 32 °C / 24 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 23 °C
- Dec 29 °C / 22 °C
- Jan 30 °C / 21 °C
- Feb 31 °C / 22 °C
- Mar 33 °C / 23 °C
Soil
Soil for Brinjal: 7 out of 10 (okay).
Not in the score: organic carbon, sulphur and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 5.5–6.8.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 78 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (your district's own figure looked wrong).
On rain alone it gets about 88% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 88% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (March–April 2026): about ₹1,850 a quintal across India's mandis.
- ₹1,450 2021
- ₹1,640 2022
- ₹1,510 2023
- ₹1,910 2024
- ₹1,750 2025
Prices are usually best in August.
Typical costs are about ₹76,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.
How to make it work
-
Short of nitrogen Your soil is likely short of nitrogen.
Add about a quarter more urea than the usual dose, in two or three splits. A pulse crop in rotation also adds nitrogen.
About 100% of local fields of this crop get it.
-
Short of potassium Your soil is likely short of potassium.
Add about a quarter more potash (MOP) than the usual dose.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 100%