Coriander
Sow in November, harvest around February
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 2,002 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 4 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 4 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 300 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 0 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 150 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 15–25 °C on average, and survives 4–32 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Nov 30 °C / 14 °C
- Dec 26 °C / 10 °C
- Jan 24 °C / 9 °C
- Feb 28 °C / 12 °C
Soil
Soil for Coriander: 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
Likes pH 5.5–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 3.3 quintals an acre here (district figures).
Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹8,875 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹14,078 a quintal, the middle of 24 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹6,200 2021
- ₹9,530 2022
- ₹6,070 2023
- ₹6,250 2024
- ₹6,730 2025
Prices are usually best in November.
Typical costs are about ₹18,000 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 6.2 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.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 1%