Garlic
Sow in October, harvest around March
This season's sowing time (October) is over.
Grown on 421 acres here. Sold at 9 mandis in your district.
₹2.4 lakh–₹3.6 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹1.5 lakh–₹2.7 lakh an acre a season
- Suits: Rain is enough
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain is enough in a normal year. Keep one irrigation ready for a dry year.
Needs about 450 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 260 mm it can use in a normal year (160 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 180 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 26 °C / 19 °C
- Nov 26 °C / 18 °C
- Dec 26 °C / 17 °C
- Jan 26 °C / 17 °C
- Feb 28 °C / 17 °C
Soil
Soil for Garlic: 7 out of 10 (okay).
Not in the score: organic carbon and pH.
- Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
Likes pH 6.0–6.6. We have no pH figures for this place.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 21 quintals an acre here (district figures).
Mandi price at last season's harvest (April 2026): about ₹14,000 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹14,700 a quintal, the middle of 2 mandis in your district (latest 10 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹2.2 lakh a season after typical costs.
- ₹8,930 2021
- ₹5,000 2022
- ₹11,000 2023
- ₹23,000 2024
- ₹12,750 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in October.
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
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 15 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
-
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 95% of local fields of this crop get it.
-
Short of sulphur Your soil is likely short of sulphur.
Use single super phosphate instead of DAP, or add about 100 kg of gypsum per acre before sowing.
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):
- Urea 95%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 63%
- NPK Mixture 1%