Onion
Sow in December, harvest around April
Grown on 27 acres here. Sold at 6 mandis 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 480 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 10 mm it can use in a normal year, and 0 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 12–25 °C on average, and survives 4–33 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Dec 23 °C / 8 °C
- Jan 20 °C / 7 °C
- Feb 24 °C / 10 °C
- Mar 30 °C / 15 °C
- Apr 38 °C / 21 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Onion: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 63 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 (April–May 2026): about ₹1,628 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹2,985 a quintal, the middle of 41 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹2,350 2021
- ₹1,680 2022
- ₹1,550 2023
- ₹2,480 2024
- ₹1,390 2025
Prices are usually best in October.
Typical costs are about ₹42,000 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 88 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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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 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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.