Chillies (Dry)
Sow in July, harvest around December
This season's sowing time (July–August) is over.
No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop. Priced from mandis across India.
₹1.3 lakh–₹1.9 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹15,000–₹78,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 2 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
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 540 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 460 mm it can use in a normal year, and 320 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 31 °C / 25 °C
- Sep 31 °C / 24 °C
- Oct 31 °C / 21 °C
- Nov 28 °C / 15 °C
- Dec 25 °C / 11 °C
Soil
Soil for Chillies (Dry): 8 out of 10 (good).
- Soil here is often more acidic than it likes.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
Likes pH 6.0–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 14 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).
On rain alone it gets about 84% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 84% 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 ₹92,000 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
-
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 sulphur Your soil is likely short of sulphur.
Use single super phosphate instead of DAP, or add about 100 kg of gypsum per acre before sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.