Turmeric
Sow in June, harvest around February
This season's sowing time (May–June) is over.
Grown on 23 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
₹2.0 lakh–₹3.0 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹58,000–₹1.6 lakh an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 3 irrigations short
- Needs care: Warm in June
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
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 920 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 780 mm it can use in a normal year, and 510 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 35 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Aug 34 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
- Sep 34 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
- Oct 32 °C / 24 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 30 °C / 23 °C
- Dec 29 °C / 22 °C
- Jan 30 °C / 21 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Turmeric: 7 out of 10 (okay).
Not in the score: organic carbon, sulphur and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 23 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (your district's own figure looked wrong).
On rain alone it gets about 85% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 85% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹12,663 a quintal across India's mandis.
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 ₹2.7 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
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 19 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 potassium Your soil is likely short of potassium.
Add about a quarter more potash (MOP) than the usual dose.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.