Turmeric
Sow in June, harvest around February
This season's sowing time (May–June) is over.
Grown on 221 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹1.6 lakh–₹2.4 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹20,000–₹1.0 lakh an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 3 irrigations short
- Needs care: Very hot in June
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 3 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 870 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 750 mm it can use in a normal year, and 640 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 20–28 °C on average, and survives 18–32 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jun 37 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Jul 30 °C / 24 °C
- Aug 29 °C / 23 °C
- Sep 30 °C / 23 °C
- Oct 31 °C / 19 °C
- Nov 29 °C / 13 °C
- Dec 27 °C / 10 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 26 °C / 10 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Days in June get hotter than it likes. Time sowing so it flowers before then.
Soil
Soil for Turmeric: 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
- Most fields here are short of iron.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 15 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (your district's own figure looked wrong).
On rain alone it gets about 87% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 87% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹15,610 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹20,950 a quintal, the middle of 22 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹1.3 lakh a season after typical costs.
- ₹16,070 2024
- ₹15,410 2025
Prices are usually best in November.
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
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 71 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 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.