Garlic

A winter crop. Sow in Oct, harvest in Mar.

Check it on your land
Season
Rabi
JJASONDJFMAM

Sowing Growing Harvest

100% of its area.
Ready in
140 days
about 4½ months
Water
460–470 mm
of water over its season (rain plus irrigation)
Grows best at
18–30 °C
0 °C survives 7–35 °C 40 °C

When to sow and harvest

Rabi 100% of its area
Today
J J A S O N D J F M A M
Sow Growing Harvest
The year starts in June, with the monsoon. Your district can shift a few weeks.

Sowing Growing Harvest

Will it grow on your land?

Amritsar Punjab
Water
Season

Won't work: too dry without irrigation

Garlic

JJASONDJFMAM

Sow in October, harvest around April

This season's sowing time (October) is over.

No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop. Sold at 2 mandis in your district.

Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on

  • Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
  • Needs care: Cool in December
  • Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work

Water

Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.

Needs about 490 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 30 mm it can use in a normal year (10 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 50 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 32 °C / 17 °C
  • Nov 27 °C / 10 °C
  • Dec 21 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
  • Jan 18 °C / 5 °C (outside its best range)
  • Feb 21 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
  • Mar 27 °C / 13 °C
  • Apr 34 °C / 18 °C

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Soil

Soil for Garlic: 8 out of 10 (good).

Not in the score: nitrogen and boron.

  • The pH here suits it.
  • Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
  • Most fields here are short of phosphorus.
  • Most fields here are short of manganese.

Likes pH 6.0–6.6.

How the soil score works

Money

Yield: about 44 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (its government crop records list none for your district).

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 (April 2026): about ₹6,400 a quintal at mandis in your district.

This week: about ₹12,000 a quintal, the middle of 34 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).

Average mandi price each year (₹ a quintal):
  1. ₹3,500 2021
  2. ₹2,000 2022
  3. ₹4,250 2023
  4. ₹9,000 2024
  5. ₹3,000 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 phosphorus Your soil is likely short of phosphorus.

    Add about a quarter more DAP or single super phosphate than the usual dose, at sowing.

    About 100% of local fields of this crop get it.

  • Short of potassium Your soil is likely short of potassium.

    Add about a quarter more potash (MOP) than the usual dose.

    About 100% of local fields of this crop get it.

  • Short of manganese Your soil is likely short of manganese.

    Spray manganese sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, on the young crop.

    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%
  • Muriate of Potash (MOP) 100%
  • Urea 100%
See every crop that suits Amritsar

What it needs

Temperature

18–30 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 7–35 °C.

Water

460–470 mm over its season

Rain and irrigation together, worked out where most of it grows:

Mainpuri Etah Firozabad Etawah Angul

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes neutral soil. Grows from pH 5 to 8.5.

Soil

  • No salty soil
  • Needs rich soil
  • K Needs plenty of potassium and sulphur
How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°); TerraClimate 1991–2020 temperature normals (about 4 km), where each district's villages are.

Fertiliser for one acre

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra for the dose.

Watch out for

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to watch for.

What an acre earns

At India's average yield and a recent price, named below. Your land, water and mandi will differ.

Left an acre, a season

₹90,800

Yield India's average
34.3 quintals an acre
× Price harvest price last season (Mar 2026)
₹6,500 a quintal
= Income
₹2,22,700
− Costs about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys
−₹1,31,900
= Left
₹90,800

This week garlic sells at about ₹12,000 a quintal: India's middle price at 196 mandis, latest 13 Nov. At that price an acre would leave about ₹2,79,300 a season.

A good year or field earns about a fifth more, a poor one a fifth less: ₹1,78,200 to ₹2,67,300 income an acre. Costs stay the same either way.

Work it out for your land

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
November, ₹12,500 a quintal
Lowest
December, ₹5,828 a quintal
₹12,500
₹5,828
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis: each month's latest price (Dec 2025–Nov 2026).

Latest prices near Amritsar Today's price across India

Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
11.1 lakh acres
2025-26
Average yield
34.3 quintals an acre (8.5 tonnes a hectare)
2025-26
Most area
Madhya Pradesh
47% of India's

States that grow it

Each state's share of India's production, in its latest year with figures (2025-26). Tap a state to open it.

Source: Horticulture area & production statistics (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).

Where it grows most

The districts with the most area in recent years. The map colours every district growing it on at least 100 ha by yield; the numbers mark these districts.

District figures cover only 33% of India's garlic area, so the districts aren't listed. The states show where it grows.

Soil and yield

How district soil tests line up with this crop's yields across India.

Garlic yields tend to be higher in districts with

  • More soil that is neutral moderate 155 districts
  • More soil that is alkaline weak 155 districts

Garlic yields tend to be lower in districts with

  • More soil that is acidic weak 155 districts

A pattern is not proof that soil causes the difference.

Source: Soil Health Card – soil nutrient analysis (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).