Turmeric
Sow in May, harvest around January
This season's sowing time (May–June) is over.
Grown on 6.6 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
₹1.3 lakh–₹2.0 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹5,000 to a profit of ₹62,000 an acre a season
- Suits: Rain is enough
- Needs care: Very hot in May
- Needs care: Soil 6/10
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 900 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 950 mm it can use in a normal year, and 800 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):
- May 39 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
- Jun 38 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Jul 34 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Aug 33 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Sep 33 °C / 24 °C (outside its best range)
- Oct 32 °C / 20 °C
- Nov 28 °C / 13 °C
- Dec 22 °C / 10 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Days in May get hotter than it likes. Time sowing so it flowers before then.
Soil
Soil for Turmeric: 6 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Salt in the soil here can harm it.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 12 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (your district's own figure looked wrong).
Mandi price at last season's harvest (January–February 2026): about ₹13,513 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹20,813 a quintal, the middle of 22 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹1.2 lakh a season after typical costs.
- ₹7,100 2021
- ₹6,250 2022
- ₹7,250 2023
- ₹13,200 2024
- ₹11,770 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
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
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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 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.