Chillies (Dry)
Sow in August, harvest around January
This season's sowing time (August–September) is over.
Grown on 37 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹1.9 lakh–₹2.9 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹75,000–₹1.7 lakh an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 2 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 2 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 500 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):
- Aug 35 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Sep 34 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Oct 33 °C / 25 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 23 °C
- Dec 29 °C / 21 °C
- Jan 30 °C / 20 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Chillies (Dry): 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 17 quintals an acre here (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 89% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 89% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (January–February 2026): about ₹15,759 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹22,000 a quintal, the middle of 7 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹2.2 lakh a season after typical costs.
- ₹7,060 2021
- ₹14,700 2022
- ₹16,200 2023
- ₹11,520 2024
- ₹12,050 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in November.
Typical costs are about ₹1.2 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 17 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.
About 100% of local fields of this crop get it.
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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.
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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.
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Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
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%
- Urea 100%
- Rock Phosphate 37%