Onion
Sow in December, harvest around April
Grown on 248 acres here. Sold at 1 mandi 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 580 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 27 °C / 11 °C
- Jan 25 °C / 10 °C
- Feb 29 °C / 13 °C
- Mar 35 °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: nitrogen, sulphur and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 32 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 ₹650 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹3,100 a quintal, the middle of 26 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹1,250 2024
- ₹660 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 ₹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 114 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 100%
- Urea 100%