Onion Farming Complete Guide 2026 - From Sowing to Selling

For rabi onion, sow the nursery in October to November in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, UP and Bihar, transplant the 45 to 50 day old seedlings in December to January, and harvest in April to May (Maharashtra) or May to June (north India). In Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh the rabi nursery goes in earlier, September to October. Seed about 5 to 7 kg per hectare (2 to 3 kg per acre) on 0.05 hectare of raised nursery bed per hectare of crop, and plant out 15 cm between rows and 10 cm between plants.

This is the nursery-and-main-field planning month: the next six weeks decide variety, seed quality and the nursery that will carry the crop. The rest of this guide follows ICAR-DOGR (the Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Pune) and the National Horticulture Board, and ends with harvest, curing, storage and selling, where most onion income is won or lost.

When to sow and plant, by region

Seedlings are ready 45 to 50 days after sowing for late kharif and rabi crops. Seedlings that are too old or too young establish poorly; DOGR advises avoiding both.

Choosing a variety for rabi

For rabi onion, storage ability is what counts. DOGR rates light-red varieties (N-2-4-1, Bhima Kiran, Bhima Shakti, Arka Niketan, Agrifound Light Red) as having more storage potential than dark red, white and yellow ones, and rabi bulbs store better than kharif bulbs. DOGR's variety table for rabi:

Yield potential is from research trials; farmers' field yields are lower (the National Horticulture Board puts irrigated rabi onion at 25 to 30 t/ha). Buy fresh seed from DOGR, NHRDF, a state university or an accredited company, with the variety and lot number on the packet, because onion seed does not keep well.

The nursery

• Area and seed: about 0.05 ha (500 m²; roughly 200 m² per acre) of nursery gives seedlings for one hectare. Seed requirement is 5 to 7 kg per hectare (DOGR); the NHB older guidance is 8 to 10 kg.
• Beds: plough 5 to 6 times, remove stones and debris, mix half a tonne of FYM into the 0.05 ha, and make raised beds 10 to 15 cm high and 1.0 to 1.2 m wide with at least 30 cm between beds. Raised beds drain well and prevent seed being washed to one end.
• Weeds: pendimethalin at 0.2% as a pre-emergence spray; hand-weed at about 20 days after sowing.
• Seed treatment: thiram at 2 g per kg of seed against damping off, with Trichoderma viride at 1,250 g per hectare applied to the nursery. DOGR's September advisory also lists carbendazim at 1 to 2 g per kg of seed.
• Sowing: in lines 5 to 7.5 cm apart, cover with fine FYM or compost, and water lightly; drip or micro-sprinkler irrigation saves water. Before sowing, apply 4:1:1 kg N:P:K per 500 m², then 2 kg N per 500 m² after hand weeding.
• Damping off: if seedlings topple at ground level, drench the beds with thiram or captan at 0.2% or carbendazim at 0.1% (DOGR). If thrips are heavy, fipronil or profenofos at 1 ml per litre is DOGR's advice; follow the label and your KVK for the product currently registered in your state.

Main field and transplanting

• Field: plough and disc to remove debris and clods; apply FYM at 15 t/ha (or 7.5 t poultry manure or vermicompost) in the last ploughing, then level. For rabi, flat beds 1.5 to 2 m wide and 4 to 6 m long work; DOGR advises broad bed furrows (15 cm high, 120 cm top, 45 cm furrow) for drip, for sprinkler and for kharif.
• Seedlings: cut about one-third of the leaf top at transplanting and dip the roots in carbendazim 0.1% solution for two hours.
• Spacing: 15 cm between rows and 10 cm between plants. Irrigate immediately after transplanting and again three days later.

Fertiliser: DOGR schedule for rabi (yield potential 40 to 50 t/ha)

On top of this, apply manure equal to 75 kg N (15 t FYM per hectare). Add sulphur at transplanting: 15 kg per hectare if the soil has more than 25 kg S per hectare, 30 kg if it has less. If the soil test shows zinc or boron deficiency, DOGR advises 10 kg zinc sulphate or 10 kg borax per hectare. For poor growth, spray a water-soluble NPK (19:19:19) at 5 g per litre at 30, 45 and 60 days. Finish nitrogen top-dressing before bulbing starts. DOGR measured that 40 tonnes of onion removes about 90 to 95 kg N, 30 to 35 kg P₂O₅ and 50 to 55 kg K₂O. See fertilizers and get a Soil Health Card.

Water and weeds

• Irrigation: at transplanting, three days later, then every 7 to 10 days; a rabi crop needs 12 to 15 light irrigations. Bulb formation is the most sensitive stage. Stop irrigation 10 to 15 days before harvest, when tops start falling. Excess water, or a dry spell followed by heavy irrigation, splits scales and raises bolting.
• Drip and micro-sprinkler: DOGR trials with drip at 100% pan evaporation gave 15 to 25% more marketable bulb yield, with 35 to 40% water saving and 25 to 30% labour saving. For drip, plant 10 × 15 cm on broad bed furrows with two laterals per bed. See drip irrigation and the subsidy finder.
• Weeds: oxyfluorfen 23.5% EC at 1.5 to 2.0 ml per litre or pendimethalin 30% EC at 3.5 to 4 ml per litre of water, before or at transplanting, plus one hand weeding at 40 to 60 days.

Thrips and leaf diseases

• Thrips: silver patches and curled leaves in the first 45 days. Grow a barrier of two rows of maize (or one maize and one wheat row) around the field 30 days before transplanting; spray only above about 30 thrips per plant, with a registered product on your KVK's advice (DOGR lists profenofos 0.1%, carbosulfan 0.2% or fipronil 0.1%).
• Purple blotch and stemphylium blight: start sprays from 30 days after transplanting or when spots appear: mancozeb 0.25%, or tricyclazole, hexaconazole or propiconazole at 0.1%, every 10 to 15 days. Avoid repeating the same chemical group.
• Rotation: do not plant onion after onion or garlic. A 2- to 3-year gap and clean transplants reduce purple blotch and iris yellow spot virus. A legume before onion helps nutrients.

Harvest, curing, grading and storage

• Harvest: rabi bulbs are ready about five months after sowing the nursery; harvest about one week after half of the tops have fallen over. Leave the pulled bulbs in windrows with leaves covering the bulbs to prevent sun scald.
• Curing: field-cure until the foliage turns yellow and necks are thin, then cure in shade with good ventilation. Cut the tops leaving 2 to 2.5 cm of neck. Cutting too close leaves the neck open to rot.
• Grading (DOGR): A grade above 80 mm, B grade 50 to 80 mm, C grade 30 to 50 mm. Store medium bulbs (50 to 80 mm) free of cuts and bruises.
• Storage: store in 40 to 50 kg bags in a ventilated structure with bottom and side ventilation, stacked up to about 5 feet. Ambient storage works best at 30 to 35°C and 65 to 70% humidity; in cold storage at 0°C and 65 to 70% humidity, DOGR reports about 5% loss in six months. Rabi onion stored in unventilated heaps rots fast: do not store bulbs that are wet, sunburnt or cut.

Selling, prices and returns

Onion prices are volatile and differ widely between mandis; one Agmarknet-based aggregator page for 25 September 2026 showed state modal rates of about ₹1,300 to ₹1,900 per quintal in the major producing states, while its own trend text quoted a national modal of ₹4,300 to ₹5,300, so you should check live onion mandi prices for your own market rather than rely on one number. On policy, the 20% export duty imposed in September 2024 was withdrawn from 1 April 2025; check the latest DGFT export notifications before planning for export. You can compare buyers on eNAM.

The arithmetic to do before you plant: at 25 t/ha (10 tonnes, or 100 quintals, per acre) a price of ₹1,500, ₹2,500 or ₹4,000 per quintal gives gross income of ₹1,50,000, ₹2,50,000 or ₹4,00,000 per acre; at 20 t/ha (about 81 quintals per acre) it is ₹1,21,500, ₹2,02,500 and ₹3,24,000. Subtract nursery, seed, labour for transplanting and weeding, fertiliser, irrigation, sprays, harvest and storage loss. Break-even price = total cost per acre ÷ saleable quintals, so a ₹1,20,000 cost with 90 saleable quintals needs ₹1,333 per quintal. Hold only the bulbs that will survive storage; sell the rest at harvest. Crop insurance under PMFBY applies where onion is notified, and a Kisan Credit Card covers input finance.

Sources

• ICAR-Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research (DOGR), Onion Agropedia (seasons, varieties, nursery, fertiliser, irrigation, pests, grading, storage)
• ICAR-DOGR, Monthly advisory of onion and garlic crop (September)
• National Horticulture Board, Onion: propagation (nursery and seasons)
• National Horticulture Board, Onion: planting
• National Horticulture Board, Onion: harvesting and yield
• National Horticulture Board, Onion: irrigation
• The Tribune, Government withdraws 20 per cent duty on onion export (22 Mar 2025)
• MandiPrices, Onion price today with state-wise modal prices from Agmarknet (25 Sep 2026)