Garlic
Sow in October, harvest around March
This season's sowing time (October) is over.
Grown on 1,801 acres here. Sold at 6 mandis in your district.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 450 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 10 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 110 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 18–30 °C on average, and survives 7–35 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 33 °C / 20 °C
- Nov 29 °C / 13 °C
- Dec 23 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 21 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 25 °C / 11 °C
- Mar 31 °C / 16 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Garlic: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–6.6.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 25 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 (March–April 2026): about ₹7,000 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹7,150 a quintal, the middle of 12 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹5,560 2021
- ₹3,480 2022
- ₹4,900 2023
- ₹11,080 2024
- ₹6,450 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in August.
Typical costs are about ₹88,000 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.
About 100% of local fields of this crop get it.
-
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%