Chillies (Dry)
Sow in July, harvest around December
This season's sowing time (July–August) is over.
Grown on 4,215 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
₹1.0 lakh–₹1.6 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹8,000 to a profit of ₹44,000 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 640 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 560 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 35 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Aug 34 °C / 25 °C
- Sep 34 °C / 25 °C
- Oct 32 °C / 24 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 22 °C
- Dec 29 °C / 21 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Chillies (Dry): 7 out of 10 (okay).
Not in the score: manganese.
- 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 organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 11 quintals an acre here (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 88% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 88% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (December 2025–January 2026): about ₹13,638 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹17,550 a quintal, the middle of 39 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹56,000 a season after typical costs.
- ₹10,650 2021
- ₹14,980 2022
- ₹16,750 2023
- ₹12,910 2024
- ₹12,120 2025
Prices are usually best in November.
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 2.0 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 95% 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.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 95%
- Urea 82%
- NPK Mixture 24%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 15%