Chillies (Dry)
Sow in October, harvest around March
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 5,041 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹92,000–₹1.4 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹20,000 to a profit of ₹26,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 6 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 6 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 550 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 70 mm it can use in a normal year (30 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 30 °C / 22 °C
- Nov 28 °C / 17 °C
- Dec 26 °C / 14 °C
- Jan 27 °C / 14 °C
- Feb 29 °C / 17 °C
- Mar 32 °C / 20 °C
Soil
Soil for Chillies (Dry): 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
- Most fields here are short of phosphorus.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 5.0 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
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). At that price an acre would lose about ₹25,000 a season at typical costs.
- ₹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 3.4 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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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.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
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Short of phosphorus Your soil is likely short of phosphorus.
Add about a quarter more DAP or single super phosphate than the usual dose, at sowing.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
-
Short of organic carbon Your soil is likely short of organic carbon.
Add 4 tonnes of compost or farmyard manure per acre before sowing, and plough crop leftovers back in instead of burning them.
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):
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 40%