Onion
Sow in December, harvest around July
Grown on 353 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 7 irrigations short
- Needs care: Cool in December
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 7 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 660 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 330 mm it can use in a normal year, and 250 mm in a dry year.
About 0% of Onion in Shopian, the nearest district with figures, is grown on rain alone. Your district has no figure of its own.
Temperature
Grows best at 12–25 °C on average, and survives 4–33 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Dec 10 °C / -2 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 7 °C / -3 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 10 °C / 0 °C (outside its best range)
- Mar 16 °C / 4 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 21 °C / 9 °C
- May 25 °C / 12 °C
- Jun 28 °C / 16 °C
- Jul 29 °C / 18 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Onion: 9 out of 10 (good).
- 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 zinc.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 84 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 (July–August 2026): about ₹3,075 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹4,800 a quintal, the middle of 5 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹2,560 2021
- ₹2,040 2022
- ₹2,100 2023
- ₹3,250 2024
- ₹2,160 2025
Prices are usually best in October.
Typical costs are about ₹49,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.
How to make it work
-
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.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
-
Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
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):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 100%
- Urea 100%