Onion
Sow in December, harvest around April
Grown on 283 acres here. Sold at 4 mandis in your district.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- 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 480 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 10 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 23 °C / 8 °C
- Jan 20 °C / 7 °C
- Feb 25 °C / 10 °C
- Mar 30 °C / 15 °C
- Apr 38 °C / 21 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Onion: 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen, copper and boron.
- Soil here is often more alkaline than it likes.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 80 quintals an acre here (district figures).
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 ₹1,200 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹2,875 a quintal, the middle of 2 mandis in your district (latest 12 Nov).
- ₹1,600 2021
- ₹1,200 2022
- ₹1,150 2023
- ₹2,100 2024
- ₹1,510 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in September.
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 76 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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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.