Pest
Mustard sawfly
Signs · Dark grey-black caterpillars eat young leaves full of holes in October–November.
Manage · Irrigate early — larvae drown or drop off. Shake plants and hand-pick. Spray only if damage is heavy — as per label / your KVK.
All crops
Vegetable · Brassicaceae (mustard family)
Radish
Mooli · मूली · Raphanus sativus
Fast, cheap and cash in six weeks — if you pull it on time.
Radish is one of the quickest crops in the field: white Asiatic roots are ready in 40–60 days. It fits between other crops and can be sown every couple of weeks through the winter. The one rule is timing — a radish left too long turns pithy and pungent.
- Sowing
- 1 Sep – 15 Jan
- Harvest
- 20 Oct – 15 Mar
- Duration
- 40–60 days
- Yield
- 81–121 q/acre
- 200–300 q/ha
Market-size roots · roots shown through the soil
At a glance
Radish in one look
Cool weather keeps roots crisp and mild. Heat makes them pungent, fibrous and quick to go pithy. Choose the variety by sowing month.
Sowing time
1 Sep – 15 Jan
Harvest
20 Oct – 15 Mar
40–60 days from sowing
Temperature
10–20 °C to grow
15–30 °C at sowing
Soil
Deep, loose sandy loam to loam
pH 6–7.5
Seed rate
3.2–4.9 kg/acre
8–12 kg/ha
Spacing
45 × 8 cm
1.5–2 cm deep
Irrigations
4–6
3 critical stages
Yield
81–121 q/acre
200–300 q/ha
Season
AugSepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJun
Grown most inUttar PradeshHaryanaPunjabBiharMadhya Pradesh
Heavy, compact soil gives short, rough and forked roots.
Seed to harvest
Watch radish grow, stage by stage
Scroll through the season. The plant in the glass tank grows to each stage — roots and all — and every card says what the crop is doing and what you should do in the field that week.
Stage 1 of 7
Sowing
Day 0–3
- 1Day 0–3
Sowing
Seed is sown 1.5–2 cm deep on ridges.
Your job · Give a light irrigation.
- 2Day 3–7
Germination
Heart-shaped seed leaves appear in 3–5 days.
Your job · Keep the ridge top moist.
- 3Day 7–15
Seedling
Rough true leaves form and the taproot dives down.
Your job · Thin plants to 7–8 cm and watch for sawfly.
- 4Day 15–22
Leaf growth
A rosette of large leaves feeds the root.
Your job · Top-dress nitrogen and earth up.
- 5Day 22–30
Root thickening
The root starts to swell and push its shoulder above the soil.
Your job · Keep moisture even.
- 6Day 30–45
Root bulking
Roots lengthen and fill out fast.
Your job · Irrigate regularly; check one root for size.
- 7Day 45–60
Market-size roots
Roots reach full size while still crisp.
Your job · Pull within a few days — waiting makes them pithy.
The seed
Good seed is half the harvest
Use certified seed of a variety bred for your region, at the right rate, and treat it before sowing.
One seed
≈ 3.5 mm
Seed rate
3.2–4.9 kg/acre
8–12 kg/ha
1000-seed weight
—
Recommended varieties
Pusa DesiAsiatic; sown August–October, long white roots in 50–55 days.
Pusa ReshmiAsiatic; sown mid-September to October, white tapering roots.
Japanese WhiteSown October–December; stump-ended white roots, slow to turn pithy.
Pusa HimaniSown December–February in the plains; crisp white roots.
Pusa ChetkiHeat tolerant, short white roots in 40–45 days for early or late sowings.
Seed treatment
- 1Treat seed with thiram or captan at 2–3 g per kg against seed and seedling rots.
Field & sowing
Prepare the land, then sow at the right gap and depth
Line sowing on ridges
Layout
Ridges & furrows
Row to row
45 cm
Plant to plant
8 cm
Depth
1.5–2 cm
Land preparation
- 1Plough 2–3 times to a fine, deep tilth.
- 2Mix 15 tonnes of well-rotted manure per hectare; avoid fresh manure.
- 3Make ridges 45 cm apart.
Sowing, step by step
- 1Make ridges 45 cm apart and sow along the top.
- 2Sow 1.5–2 cm deep and cover lightly.
- 3Thin to 7–8 cm apart within 2–3 weeks.
- 4Sow a fresh patch every 2–3 weeks for a steady supply.
Feeding the crop
How much fertiliser, and when
These are the standard doses for a medium-fertility field. Your Soil Health Card can raise or lower them — test first, then feed.
Nutrient dose
Nitrogen (N)24 kg/acre · 60 kg/ha
Phosphorus (P₂O₅)16 kg/acre · 40 kg/ha
Potassium (K₂O)16 kg/acre · 40 kg/ha
Plus 15 t/ha (6.1 t/acre) of well-rotted farmyard manure or compost.
When to apply
- 1At sowing: half the nitrogen with all the phosphorus and potash.
- 2Top-dress the rest of the nitrogen 20–25 days after sowing, then earth up.
Micronutrients, sulphur & biofertilisers
- 1Boron: a hollow, brown core shows boron shortage — 10 kg borax per hectare at sowing where needed.
Bags for your field
For 1 acre of Radish
What to buy
Urea
1
bag · 39 kg
DAP
0.5
bags · 35 kg
MOP
0.5
bags · 27 kg
Nutrients in it: N 24 kg · P₂O₅ 16 kg · K₂O 16 kg
Also add farmyard manure or compost: 6.1 t
- Don't put it all in at once: follow the timing on the Radish page.
- Your Soil Health Card can raise or lower these amounts. If you have one, follow it.
- Using SSP, NPK complexes or gypsum instead changes these amounts; the nutrient dose is what matters.
Not yet checked against a package of practices. Confirm the dose with your KVK before you buy.
Urea has 46 % N; DAP 18 % N and 46 % P₂O₅; MOP 60 % K₂O. Urea comes in 45 kg bags, DAP and MOP in 50 kg.
Water
4–6 irrigations — never miss the critical ones
A crop forgives a late irrigation at some stages and punishes it at others. These are the days that decide yield.
Day 4
Day 22
Day 35
SowingDay 60
Critical irrigations
- Day 4Germination
- Day 22Root thickening begins
- Day 35Root bulking
Watering tips
- 1First light irrigation right after sowing, then every 6–8 days.
- 2Keep moisture even — drought then flood causes forking, cracking and sharp taste.
- 3Do not flood the ridge tops.
Protection
Weeds, pests and diseases to watch for
Walk the field every week. Most problems are cheap to stop early and expensive to fix late. For any spray, follow the label dose and check with your KVK.
Pest
Aphids
Signs · Grey-green insects in colonies on leaves from December; leaves curl.
Manage · Neem oil at the first colonies; recommended insecticide only if they spread — as per label / your KVK.
Disease
Alternaria blight
Signs · Brown, ringed spots on leaves that dry the foliage.
Manage · Rotation and clean seed. Mancozeb at 2.5 g per litre at first spots — as per label / your KVK.
Disease
White rust
Signs · White blister-like pustules under the leaves, mostly in seed crops.
Manage · Remove infected plants and rotate. Metalaxyl with mancozeb if it spreads — as per label / your KVK.
Disorder
Pithiness
Signs · Roots turn spongy and hollow inside, light in the hand.
Manage · Pull on time, keep soil moist and grow slow-pithing varieties like Japanese White for later harvests.
Disorder
Forking and cracking
Signs · Split or branched roots.
Manage · Loose soil without clods, no fresh manure, even irrigation and timely thinning.
Weeds
Common · Bathua (Chenopodium), krishneel (Anagallis), motha (Cyperus)
- 1One or two hoeings in the first 3 weeks, the second with earthing up.
- 2Pendimethalin right after sowing on moist soil where weeds are heavy — as per label / your KVK.
Harvest
Harvest on time, dry it well, store it safe
A good crop gives
81–121q/acre
200–300 quintal per hectare
When is it ready?
- 1Roots reach the variety's length (25–35 cm for long Asiatic types) and feel heavy.
- 2Cut one open: the flesh should be solid and juicy, not spongy.
Harvesting
- 1Give a light irrigation, then pull roots with their leaves by hand.
After harvest & storage
- 1Wash, remove damaged roots and tie into bunches with the leaves.
- 2Radish wilts fast — sell fresh or keep at 0–1 °C and high humidity for up to 2 weeks.
Golden rules for radish
- 1Pull on time — a pithy radish is worthless.
- 2Sow small patches every 2–3 weeks instead of one big field.
- 3Pick the variety for the month; a September variety sown in January bolts.
- 4Early irrigation is the cheapest cure for mustard sawfly.