Onion
Sow in December, harvest around April
Grown on 62,751 acres here. Sold at 6 mandis in your district.
₹82,000–₹1.2 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹40,000–₹81,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 13 irrigations short
- Needs care: Very hot in April
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 13 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 610 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 0 mm it can use in a normal year, and 0 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 12–25 °C on average, and survives 4–33 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Dec 31 °C / 14 °C
- Jan 29 °C / 12 °C
- Feb 32 °C / 15 °C
- Mar 36 °C / 20 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 38 °C / 24 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Days in April get hotter than it likes. Time sowing so it flowers before then.
Soil
Soil for Onion: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Salt in the soil here can harm it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 111 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
Mandi price at last season's harvest (April–May 2026): about ₹924 a quintal at mandis in your district.
- ₹1,690 2021
- ₹1,090 2022
- ₹1,390 2023
- ₹1,720 2024
- ₹1,000 2025
Prices are usually best in November.
Typical costs are about ₹42,000 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 115 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.
About 100% of local fields of this crop get it.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 100%
- Urea 100%