Onion
Sow in December, harvest around April
Grown on 7,301 acres here. Sold at 2 mandis in your district.
₹73,000–₹1.1 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹31,000–₹67,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 13 irrigations short
- Needs care: Very hot in April
- Suits: Soil 8/10
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 600 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 30 °C / 13 °C
- Jan 28 °C / 11 °C
- Feb 32 °C / 14 °C
- Mar 36 °C / 19 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 38 °C / 23 °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: 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of boron.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 92 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
Mandi price at last season's harvest (April–May 2026): about ₹988 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹4,000 a quintal, the middle of 17 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹3.3 lakh a season after typical costs.
- ₹1,300 2021
- ₹1,000 2022
- ₹1,130 2023
- ₹1,940 2024
- ₹1,000 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in September.
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 113 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 boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.