Tea

Planted once, harvested year after year.

Check it on your land
Season
Whole year
100% of its area.
Grows best at
20–30 °C
0 °C survives 8–35 °C 40 °C

When to sow and harvest

Planted once, usually at the start of the rains. It stays for years: the first real harvest comes after about 3 years, then one every year.

Will it grow on your land?

Solapur Maharashtra
Water
Season

Won't work: too dry without irrigation

Tea

Holds the land all year

No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop.

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
  • Needs care: Soil 5/10
Why, and how to make it work

Water

Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.

Needs about 1,900 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 360 mm it can use in a normal year, and 240 mm in a dry year.

Temperature

Grows best at 20–30 °C on average, and survives 8–35 °C.

Here, in its growing months (day / night):

  • Jun 35 °C / 23 °C
  • Jul 31 °C / 23 °C
  • Aug 31 °C / 22 °C
  • Sep 31 °C / 22 °C
  • Oct 33 °C / 21 °C
  • Nov 32 °C / 18 °C
  • Dec 31 °C / 16 °C
  • Jan 32 °C / 16 °C
  • Feb 35 °C / 18 °C
  • Mar 38 °C / 22 °C (outside its best range)
  • Apr 41 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
  • May 41 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
  • Jun 35 °C / 23 °C

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Days in April get hotter than it likes. Young plants need shade and water then.

Soil

Soil for Tea: 5 out of 10 (poor).

  • Soil here is often too alkaline for it.
  • Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
  • Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
  • Most fields here are short of sulphur.

Likes pH 4.5–5.5.

How the soil score works

Money

A new planting gives its first real harvest after about 3 years. The money here is for plants already bearing.

No yield records for this crop yet.

Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.

No mandi or support price for this crop yet.

How to make it work

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.

    Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.

    Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.

  • Short of manganese Your soil is likely short of manganese.

    Spray manganese sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, on the young crop.

    Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.

  • 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.

See every crop that suits Solapur

What it needs

Temperature

20–30 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 8–35 °C. Frost hurts it.

Water

The check above works out its water need on your land.

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes slightly acidic soil. Grows from pH 4 to 6.

Soil

  • No salty soil
  • Needs rich soil
  • K Needs plenty of potassium
How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°); TerraClimate 1991–2020 temperature normals (about 4 km), where each district's villages are.

Fertiliser for one acre

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra for the dose.

Watch out for

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to watch for.

Mandi price, month by month

No mandi prices for this crop yet.

Where it grows in India

Where it grows most

The districts with the most area in recent years. The map colours every district growing it on at least 100 ha by yield; the numbers mark these districts.

No recent district figures for this crop.