Onion
Sow in July, harvest around November
This season's sowing time (July–August) is over.
No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop. Sold at 7 mandis in your district.
₹95,000–₹1.4 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹6,000 to a profit of ₹41,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 3 irrigations short
- Needs care: Warm in July
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 3 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 490 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 380 mm it can use in a normal year, and 320 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):
- Jul 34 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Aug 33 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Sep 33 °C / 24 °C (outside its best range)
- Oct 32 °C / 18 °C
- Nov 27 °C / 12 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Onion: 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, 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 96 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (its government crop records list none for your district).
On rain alone it gets about 77% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 77% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (December 2025): about ₹1,600 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹4,600 a quintal, the middle of 2 mandis in your district (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹2.4 lakh a season after typical costs.
- ₹2,280 2021
- ₹1,550 2022
- ₹1,700 2023
- ₹3,250 2024
- ₹1,780 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in October.
Typical costs are about ₹1.0 lakh 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 potassium Your soil is likely short of potassium.
Add about a quarter more potash (MOP) than the usual dose.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
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.