Chillies (Dry)
Sow in October, harvest around March
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 1,063 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 610 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 30 mm it can use in a normal year (10 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 190 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 17–30 °C on average, and survives 8–35 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 32 °C / 22 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 17 °C
- Dec 28 °C / 13 °C
- Jan 28 °C / 13 °C
- Feb 32 °C / 16 °C
- Mar 36 °C / 20 °C
Soil
Soil for Chillies (Dry): 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: pH and sulphur.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
- Most fields here are short of zinc.
Likes pH 6.0–7.5. We have no pH figures for this place.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 6.9 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (April 2026): about ₹23,200 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹17,550 a quintal, the middle of 39 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹12,300 2021
- ₹16,590 2022
- ₹24,800 2023
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in February.
Typical costs are about ₹1.1 lakh 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
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 25 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
-
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 zinc Your soil is likely short of zinc.
Mix 10 kg of zinc sulphate per acre into the soil before sowing. One dose lasts two or three seasons.
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%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 100%
- Urea 100%