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.
₹81,000–₹1.2 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹31,000 to a profit of ₹10,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 3 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 3 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 570 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 470 mm it can use in a normal year, and 350 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 31 °C / 25 °C
- Aug 30 °C / 24 °C
- Sep 31 °C / 24 °C
- Oct 32 °C / 20 °C
- Nov 29 °C / 13 °C
- Dec 26 °C / 10 °C
Soil
Soil for Chillies (Dry): 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
- Most fields here are short of zinc.
Likes pH 6.0–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 13 quintals an acre here (older figures, 2018-19).
On rain alone it gets about 82% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 82% 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 ₹62,000 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
-
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 93% 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):
- Urea 93%