Tomato
Sow in July, harvest around November
This season's sowing time (June–July) is over.
Grown on 1,362 acres here. Last recorded in 2014-15. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹5.5 lakh–₹8.2 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹2.5 lakh–₹5.3 lakh an acre a season
- Suits: Rain is enough
- Needs care: Warm in July
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain is enough in a normal year. Keep one irrigation ready for a dry year.
Needs about 490 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 470 mm it can use in a normal year, and 290 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):
- Jul 32 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Aug 32 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Sep 32 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Oct 32 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 30 °C / 21 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Tomato: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, 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).
Mandi price at last season's harvest (December 2025): about ₹3,670 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹1,400 a quintal, the middle of 11 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would lose about ₹31,000 a season at typical costs.
- ₹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 ₹2.9 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
-
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.
About 90% of local fields of this crop get it.
-
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.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
-
Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 90%
- Urea 90%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 53%