Ginger
Sow in May, harvest around January
This season's sowing time (April–May) is over.
Grown on 12 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
₹94,000–₹1.4 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹10,000 to a profit of ₹37,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 6 irrigations short
- Needs care: Very hot in May
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 6 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 960 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 680 mm it can use in a normal year, and 510 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 19–29 °C on average, and survives 13–35 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- May 40 °C / 28 °C (outside its best range)
- Jun 37 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
- Jul 33 °C / 25 °C
- Aug 32 °C / 25 °C
- Sep 32 °C / 25 °C
- Oct 32 °C / 24 °C
- Nov 31 °C / 20 °C
- Dec 30 °C / 18 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Days in May get hotter than it likes. Time sowing so it flowers before then.
Soil
Soil for Ginger: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of zinc.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 33 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (your district's own figure looked wrong).
On rain alone it gets about 71% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 71% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (January–February 2026): about ₹5,000 a quintal across India's mandis.
- ₹2,850 2021
- ₹3,180 2022
- ₹7,960 2023
- ₹7,750 2024
- ₹4,010 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in July.
Typical costs are about ₹1.0 lakh 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 manganese Your soil is likely short of manganese.
Spray manganese sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, on the young crop.
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.