Beetroot Cultivation and Farming in India – Expenses , Profits and Market

Beetroot farming is practiced in very few states in India. Though the vegetable is not considered exotic and is consumed widely in India, it is not one of the most popular vegetables. The average household consumes less than 2 KG of beetroot a month. That’s 24 KG of beetroot consumption a year per household. Unlike many other vegetables, like potatoes, onions, or tomatoes, the beet is not a table favorite in the Indian household. Gaining popularity though, beetroot is consumed as juice for its health benefits in India recently, mostly popular in cities and towns.

Beetroot has a lot of nutritional value and consuming it regularly helps improves your overall health, mental and physical. Research indicates that beetroot has cognitive benefits and reduces heart diseases. It has a wide range of vitamins and minerals apart from protein, fat, and carbs. 

When it comes to cultivation, it is commonly cultivated in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, and West Bengal, Tamil Nadu is increasing its production of beetroot gradually and many farmers are shifting from potatoes to beetroot due to an increase in price and output. Beetroot production in the country is increasing. 

NOTE: Sugarbeet is different from beetroot. Sugarbeet is used to manufacture sugar and has a high sugar content but beetroot cannot be used to extract sugar and is more of a table variety, though they are both from the same family. Sugarbeet is white while beetroot commonly is dark red. Sugarbeet is not widely cultivated in India, though there are a few farmers producing sugarbeet in Maharashtra where there is a factory setup for the extraction of sugar from sugarbeet.

Beetroot farming step by step.

Let us look at every factor possible in the cultivation of beetroot in India. What’s required, the kind of weather, soil conditions, water requirements, where you can sell, and a lot more but one step at a time.

Yield and Profit per acre

When it comes to economics, Beetroot is profitable. The question is always how profitable. Remember this is a short-term crop. 4-5 months is the time it takes from seed to harvest. The irrigation requirement is low and the fertilizers are also minimal. There are very less pest and disease control measures. Below are the numbers from various farmers on how much they spent and how much they made with beetroot cultivation in one Acre.

Expenses for the cultivation of Beetroot

Land preparation2500
Cow Manure4000
Fertilizers1200
Pesticides800
Labour (Seed sowing to harvest)5000
Transportation4000
Weeding6000
Cost of seed 5000
Miscellaneous5000
Total Cost33500

The total cost involved for the cultivation of Beetroot per acre is approximately 33 Thousand 5 hundred rupees.

The total yield per acre is approximately 80 quintals or 8 tonnes of beetroot. With an average price of 10 Rs per kilo, Which is the lowest in the market, the farmer can expect 80,000 Rs per acre from beetroot cultivation. Remember that this is not the profit. When you reduce the Expenses of 33500 from the 80,000 Rs you would remain with 46500 Rs as pure profit from beetroot farming

Note that the amount you have estimated is 10 rs per kilo (Selling price) chances are some markets offer you a higher price of up to 30 Rs per kilo depending on the season. If the price is good, you can surely make a lot more. One lakh per acre from beetroot farming is possible and many farmers have achieved this mark.