Onion
Sow in December, harvest around April
Grown on 20,056 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 13 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 13 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 610 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 / 14 °C
- Jan 30 °C / 13 °C
- Feb 32 °C / 15 °C
- Mar 35 °C / 19 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 37 °C / 23 °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 zinc.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 114 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 ₹1,150 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹4,000 a quintal, the middle of 17 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹1,750 2021
- ₹1,230 2022
- ₹1,300 2023
- ₹2,400 2024
- ₹1,280 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
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 115 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 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.
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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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.