Tomato
Sow in October, harvest around February
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 2,597 acres here. Last recorded in 2014-15. Priced from mandis across your state.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 500 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 150 mm it can use in a normal year, and 100 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 20–27 °C on average, and survives 7–35 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 33 °C / 24 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 31 °C / 22 °C
- Dec 30 °C / 19 °C
- Jan 31 °C / 19 °C
- Feb 34 °C / 21 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Tomato: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- Soil here is often more alkaline than it likes.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 5.5–6.8.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 186 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (no recent yield figures for your district).
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 (February–March 2026): about ₹1,100 a quintal across mandis in your state.
- ₹1,020 2021
- ₹1,250 2022
- ₹1,380 2023
- ₹2,250 2024
- ₹1,690 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in December.
Typical costs are about ₹1.4 lakh 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
-
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.