Chillies (Dry)
Sow in August, harvest around January
This season's sowing time (August–September) is over.
Grown on 289 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 7 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 7 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 590 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 260 mm it can use in a normal year, and 190 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 31 °C / 23 °C
- Sep 31 °C / 23 °C
- Oct 32 °C / 21 °C
- Nov 31 °C / 17 °C
- Dec 30 °C / 15 °C
- Jan 31 °C / 15 °C
Soil
Soil for Chillies (Dry): 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Salt in the soil here can harm it.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, 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 16 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
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 (January–February 2026): about ₹12,551 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹17,550 a quintal, the middle of 39 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹15,000 2022
- ₹18,000 2023
- ₹12,750 2024
- ₹11,040 2025
Prices are usually best in August.
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
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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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.