Dragon Fruit
Holds the land all year
No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 5 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 5 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 680 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 440 mm it can use in a normal year, and 290 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 18–28 °C on average, and survives 12–34 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jun 39 °C / 28 °C (outside its best range)
- Jul 34 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Aug 32 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
- Sep 33 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
- Oct 36 °C / 21 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 34 °C / 16 °C
- Dec 30 °C / 12 °C
- Jan 29 °C / 11 °C
- Feb 33 °C / 14 °C
- Mar 37 °C / 19 °C
- Apr 40 °C / 23 °C (outside its best range)
- May 42 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
- Jun 39 °C / 28 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Days in June get hotter than it likes. Young plants need shade and water then.
Soil
Soil for Dragon Fruit: 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Salt in the soil here can harm it.
- Many fields here are short of zinc, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
Likes pH 5.3–6.7.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 33 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (its government crop records list none for your district).
A new planting gives its first real harvest after about 2 years. The money here is for plants already bearing.
Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.
No mandi or support price for this crop yet.
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 zinc Your soil is likely short of zinc.
Mix 10 kg of zinc sulphate per acre into the soil before sowing. One dose lasts two or three seasons.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.