Onion
Sow in July, harvest around November
This season's sowing time (July–August) is over.
No figures for this season in your district. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹99,000–₹1.5 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹2,000 to a profit of ₹48,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 2 irrigations short
- Needs care: Warm in July
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 2 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 520 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 430 mm it can use in a normal year, and 300 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 32 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Aug 31 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
- Sep 32 °C / 24 °C (outside its best range)
- Oct 35 °C / 21 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 33 °C / 16 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Onion: 8 out of 10 (good).
- 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 boron.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 115 quintals an acre here in its other seasons (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 83% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 83% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (December 2025): about ₹1,300 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). At that price an acre would leave about ₹2.8 lakh a season after typical costs.
- ₹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 ₹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
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 114 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 boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.