Onion
Sow in December, harvest around April
Grown on 1,895 acres here. Sold at 5 mandis in your district.
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 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 630 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 0 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 31 °C / 12 °C
- Jan 28 °C / 11 °C
- Feb 32 °C / 14 °C
- Mar 36 °C / 18 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 40 °C / 23 °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: 9 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: salt.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 98 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 ₹927 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹2,050 a quintal, the middle of 2 mandis in your district (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹1,570 2021
- ₹1,200 2022
- ₹1,210 2023
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 101 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Urea 84%