Garlic
Sow in October, harvest around March
This season's sowing time (October) is over.
Grown on 12 acres here. Sold at 1 mandi 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 510 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 50 mm it can use in a normal year, and 30 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 18–30 °C on average, and survives 7–35 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 29 °C / 20 °C
- Nov 28 °C / 19 °C
- Dec 28 °C / 16 °C
- Jan 29 °C / 16 °C
- Feb 32 °C / 18 °C
Soil
Soil for Garlic: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of sulphur, 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 24 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 (March–April 2026): about ₹7,175 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹13,330 a quintal, the middle of 10 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
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
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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.
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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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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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.
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Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.