Onion

A monsoon crop. Sow in Jun–Jul, harvest in Oct–Nov.

Check it on your land
Season
Kharif
50% of its area. Also grown in rabi.
Ready in
130 days
about 4½ months
Water
500–590 mm
over its season
Temperature
12–25 °C
0° survives 4–30 °C 40°

When to sow and harvest

Kharif 50% of its area
Rabi 42% of its area
Today: kharif harvest
J J A S O N D J F M A M
Sow Growing Harvest
The year starts in June, with the monsoon. Your district can shift a few weeks.

Will it grow on your land?

Water
Season

Pick a place and water to see if it suits your land, and what it earns.

What it needs

Temperature

12–25 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 4–30 °C.

Water

500–590 mm over its season
Gadag Bagalkote Chitradurga Kurnool Dharwad

Worked out where most of it grows. Rain and irrigation together.

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes neutral soil. Grows from pH 4.3 to 8.3.

Soil

  • Takes a little salt
  • Ordinary farm soil is fine
  • N Needs plenty of nitrogen, potassium and sulphur
How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°).

Fertiliser for one acre

Draft: check with your KVK
Urea nitrogen
83 kg 2 bags of 45 kg
DAP phosphate
35 kg half a bag of 50 kg
MOP potash
40 kg 1 bag of 50 kg

Sulphur 30 kg/ha

Give the DAP and MOP at sowing, and the urea in two or three doses. If your soil card says a nutrient is low, add about a quarter more of it.

Watch out for

Draft: check with your KVK
  • Thrips
    Pest

    Look for Silvery-white streaks on leaves; tips dry.

    First Use blue sticky traps; spray when thrips are many. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.

  • Purple blotch
    Disease

    Look for Purple spots with yellow edges on the leaves.

    First Spray mancozeb when spots appear. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.

  • Stemphylium blight
    Disease

    Look for Yellow-orange streaks on the leaves that turn brown.

    First Spray mancozeb when streaks appear. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.

  • Basal rot
    Disease

    Look for Bulbs rot from the base, in the field and in store.

    First Rotate crops and cure bulbs well before storing.

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
November, ₹2,500
Lowest
May, ₹1,293
₹1,293
₹2,500
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis.

Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
4,92,899 ha
2020-21
Average yield
13.0 t/ha
2020-21
Most area
Vijayapura
Karnataka
Best yield
Srikakulam
37.1 t/ha

States that grow it

Latest state figures for fruits, vegetables, spices and plantation crops.

  1. Maharashtra 1,30,45,064 t (2025-26)
  2. Madhya Pradesh 46,99,107 t (2025-26)
  3. Gujarat 26,06,666 t (2025-26)
  4. Karnataka 21,53,071 t (2025-26)
  5. Rajasthan 16,36,827 t (2025-26)
  6. Bihar 13,41,210 t (2025-26)
  7. Andhra Pradesh 8,71,757 t (2025-26)
  8. West Bengal 8,22,062 t (2025-26)
  9. Uttar Pradesh 8,09,670 t (2025-26)
  10. Tamil Nadu 4,57,347 t (2025-26)

Source: Horticulture area & production statistics (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).

Districts with the most area (recent figures)

The map colours each district by yield, for districts growing it on at least 100 ha.

  1. Vijayapura, Karnataka 35,518 ha
  2. Bagalkote, Karnataka 34,777 ha
  3. Chitradurga, Karnataka 34,332 ha
  4. Gadag, Karnataka 32,326 ha
  5. Bhavnagar, Gujarat 29,735 ha
  6. Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh 24,663 ha
  7. Jodhpur, Rajasthan 17,719 ha
  8. Dharwad, Karnataka 15,315 ha
  9. Alwar, Rajasthan 14,478 ha
  10. Sikar, Rajasthan 13,978 ha

Onion yield

  1. 1.5–8.2 t/ha
  2. 8.2–12.8 t/ha
  3. 12.9–16.2 t/ha
  4. 16.2–23.8 t/ha
  5. 23.8–37.1 t/ha
No data

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2002-03 to 2020-21.

Where yields are highest

  1. Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh 37.1 t/ha
  2. Amreli, Gujarat 34.1 t/ha
  3. Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh 32.8 t/ha
  4. Dewas, Madhya Pradesh 32.2 t/ha
  5. Ananthapuramu, Andhra Pradesh 32.1 t/ha
  6. Churu, Rajasthan 32.1 t/ha
  7. Vikarabad, Telangana 31.6 t/ha
  8. Indore, Madhya Pradesh 31.4 t/ha
  9. Agar-Malwa, Madhya Pradesh 30.5 t/ha
  10. Nizamabad, Telangana 30.3 t/ha

Only districts growing it on at least 100 ha.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2002-03 to 2020-21.

Across India over the years

Yield (t/ha)

0.0 9.7 19.5
2002-03 2020-21
Latest 13.0 t/ha in 2020-21

Area (ha)

0.0 338K 676K
2002-03 2020-21
Latest 4,92,899 ha in 2020-21

Only years in which most of the usual districts reported are shown.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2002-03 to 2020-21.

Soil and yield

How district soil tests line up with this crop's yields across India.

  • Districts with more soil that is acidic tend to have lower onion yields (moderate pattern, 361 districts).
  • Districts with more soil that is neutral tend to have higher onion yields (moderate pattern, 361 districts).

A pattern is not proof that soil causes the difference.

Source: Soil Health Card – soil nutrient analysis (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).