Chillies (Dry)
Sow in July, harvest around December
This season's sowing time (July–August) is over.
Grown on 120 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 560 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 210 mm it can use in a normal year, and 150 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 34 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Aug 33 °C / 26 °C
- Sep 33 °C / 24 °C
- Oct 32 °C / 18 °C
- Nov 27 °C / 12 °C
- Dec 22 °C / 7 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Chillies (Dry): 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- 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 3.6 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (your district's own figure looked wrong).
Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (December 2025–January 2026): about ₹20,675 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹10,131 a quintal, the middle of 4 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹15,480 2021
- ₹18,450 2022
- ₹21,590 2023
- ₹21,920 2024
- ₹20,900 2025
Prices are usually best in December.
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 3.7 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.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 100%
- Urea 100%