Dragon Fruit
Holds the land all year
No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop.
No price yet to estimate income
- Needs care: Risky: 3 irrigations short
- Needs care: Very hot in May
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 3 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 520 mm it can use in a normal year, and 360 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 18–28 °C on average, and survives 12–34 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jun 35 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
- Jul 31 °C / 23 °C
- Aug 30 °C / 22 °C
- Sep 30 °C / 22 °C
- Oct 31 °C / 21 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 17 °C
- Dec 29 °C / 14 °C
- Jan 30 °C / 15 °C
- Feb 33 °C / 18 °C
- Mar 36 °C / 21 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 39 °C / 24 °C (outside its best range)
- May 41 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
- Jun 35 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Days in May get hotter than it likes. Young plants need shade and water then.
Soil
Soil for Dragon Fruit: 9 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of zinc, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
Likes pH 5.3–6.7.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 23 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).
A new planting gives its first real harvest after about 2 years. The money here is for plants already bearing.
On rain alone it gets about 82% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 82% of this yield.
No mandi or support price for this crop yet.
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 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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.