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?

Kollam Kerala
Water
Season

Good fit in Kollam

Garlic

JJASONDJFMAM

Sow in October, harvest around March

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. Priced from mandis across your state.

₹2.2 lakh–₹3.3 lakh

per acre a season, before costs

After typical costs: ₹1.3 lakh–₹2.4 lakh an acre a season

  • Suits: Rain is enough
  • Suits: Ideal temperatures
  • Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work

Water

Rain is enough in a normal year. Keep one irrigation ready for a dry year.

Needs about 500 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 320 mm it can use in a normal year (280 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 200 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 31 °C / 24 °C
  • Nov 31 °C / 24 °C
  • Dec 31 °C / 23 °C
  • Jan 32 °C / 23 °C
  • Feb 33 °C / 24 °C

Soil

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

Not in the score: nitrogen.

  • Soil here is often more acidic than it likes.
  • Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
  • Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
  • Most fields here are short of boron.

Likes pH 6.0–6.6.

How the soil score works

Money

Yield: about 21 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (its government crop records list none for your district).

Mandi price at last season's harvest (March–April 2026): about ₹13,025 a quintal across mandis in your state.

This week: about ₹19,750 a quintal, the middle of 18 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹3.3 lakh a season after typical costs.

Average mandi price each year (₹ a quintal):
  1. ₹9,880 2021
  2. ₹6,530 2022
  3. ₹15,200 2023
  4. ₹25,980 2024
  5. ₹12,550 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 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.

See every crop that suits Kollam

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 Kollam 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).