Onion
Sow in December, harvest around April
Grown on 11 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Needs care: Very hot in April
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 540 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 20 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 26 °C / 12 °C
- Jan 25 °C / 11 °C
- Feb 29 °C / 15 °C
- Mar 33 °C / 18 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 39 °C / 24 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Days in April get hotter than it likes. Time sowing so it flowers before then.
Soil
Soil for Onion: 8 out of 10 (good).
- Soil here is often more acidic than it likes.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of boron.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 26 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 ₹1,225 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹4,200 a quintal, the middle of 617 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹2,000 2021
- ₹1,480 2022
- ₹1,510 2023
- ₹2,580 2024
- ₹1,500 2025
Prices are usually best in November.
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 25 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.
About 32% of local fields of this crop get it.
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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.
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 32%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 21%