Cabbage

A winter crop. Sow in Oct–Nov, harvest in Jan–Feb.

Check it on your land
Season
Rabi
52% of its area. Also grown in kharif.
Ready in
100 days
about 3½ months
Water
340–370 mm
over its season
Temperature
15–24 °C
0° survives 7–32 °C 40°

When to sow and harvest

Rabi 52% of its area
Kharif 48% of its area
Today: rabi sowing time
J J A S O N D J F M A M
Sow Growing Harvest
The year starts in June, with the monsoon. Your district can shift a few weeks.

Will it grow on your land?

Water
Season

Pick a place and water to see if it suits your land, and what it earns.

What it needs

Temperature

15–24 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 7–32 °C.

Water

340–370 mm over its season
Srikakulam Chittoor Krishna Visakhapatnam Vizianagaram

Worked out where most of it grows. Rain and irrigation together.

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes neutral soil. Grows from pH 5 to 8.3.

Soil

  • No salty soil
  • Needs rich soil
  • N Needs plenty of nitrogen, potassium and boron
How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°).

Fertiliser for one acre

Draft: check with your KVK
Urea nitrogen
85 kg 2 bags of 45 kg
DAP phosphate
53 kg 1 bag of 50 kg
MOP potash
40 kg 1 bag of 50 kg

Borax 10 kg/ha

Give the DAP and MOP at sowing, and the urea in two or three doses. If your soil card says a nutrient is low, add about a quarter more of it.

Watch out for

Draft: check with your KVK
  • Diamondback moth
    Pest

    Look for Small holes in the leaves; tiny green caterpillars wriggle when touched.

    First Grow mustard rows as a trap crop and use pheromone traps; spray Bt. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.

  • Black rot
    Disease

    Look for V-shaped yellow patches from the leaf edges with black veins.

    First Treat seed in hot water and rotate crops.

  • Aphids
    Pest

    Look for Clusters of small grey insects on the leaves.

    First Spray only if clusters are thick; ask your KVK.

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
October, ₹2,015
Lowest
March, ₹895
₹895
₹2,015
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Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis.

Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
8,070 ha
2003-04
Average yield
11.9 t/ha
2003-04

States that grow it

Latest state figures for fruits, vegetables, spices and plantation crops.

  1. West Bengal 23,84,364 t (2025-26)
  2. Odisha 13,11,420 t (2025-26)
  3. Madhya Pradesh 11,68,653 t (2025-26)
  4. Gujarat 9,23,054 t (2025-26)
  5. Bihar 8,11,537 t (2025-26)
  6. Assam 7,61,819 t (2025-26)
  7. Uttar Pradesh 5,12,197 t (2025-26)
  8. Chhattisgarh 4,49,446 t (2025-26)
  9. Jharkhand 3,57,502 t (2025-26)
  10. Tamil Nadu 3,45,002 t (2025-26)

Source: Horticulture area & production statistics (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).

Districts with the most area (recent figures)

The map colours each district by yield, for districts growing it on at least 100 ha.

No recent district figures for this crop.

Across India over the years

Yield (t/ha)

11.9 15.1 18.4
2002-03 2003-04
Latest 11.9 t/ha in 2003-04

Area (ha)

7,795 7,933 8,070
2002-03 2003-04
Latest 8,070 ha in 2003-04

Only years in which most of the usual districts reported are shown.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2002-03 & 2003-04.