Chillies (Dry)
Sow in July, harvest around December
This season's sowing time (July–August) is over.
No recent figures for your district. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹1.1 lakh–₹1.6 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹6,000 to a profit of ₹47,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 4 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 4 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 600 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 430 mm it can use in a normal year, and 290 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 17–30 °C on average, and survives 8–35 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jul 33 °C / 26 °C
- Aug 31 °C / 25 °C
- Sep 33 °C / 24 °C
- Oct 33 °C / 20 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 14 °C
- Dec 26 °C / 10 °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 organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of boron.
Likes pH 6.0–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 20 quintals an acre here (older figures, 2018-19).
On rain alone it gets about 72% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 72% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (December 2025–January 2026): about ₹9,460 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹16,250 a quintal, the middle of 6 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹1.2 lakh a season after typical costs.
- ₹7,110 2021
- ₹10,000 2022
- ₹12,710 2023
- ₹9,960 2024
- ₹8,330 2025
Prices are usually best in September.
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
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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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.