Brinjal (Eggplant)
Solanum melongena
A hardy vegetable that yields across many pickings from a single planting — which is exactly why the shoot-and-fruit borer, tunnelling unseen into stems and fruit, decides your crop more than anything else. Everything here is built around picking young and beating that one pest.
- Crop type
- Vegetable (fruit)
- Season
- Kharif, rabi & summer
- Suitable states
- 15+ major states
- Growing duration
- 150–180 days (many picks)
- Water requirement
- Moderate & steady
- Temperature
- 20–30°C
- Soil type
- Well-drained loam, high organic matter
- Difficulty level
- Moderate
- Expected yield
- 250–400 q/ha
- Key pest
- Shoot & fruit borer
Overview
Brinjal (Solanum melongena), also called eggplant or aubergine, is one of India’s most widely grown and dependable vegetables — cultivated in every state, in the plains and the hills, across kharif, rabi and summer.
Its great advantage is that a single planting keeps yielding over many pickings for four to six months, spreading both the harvest and the income. That same long field life, though, is what makes the shoot-and-fruit borer such a serious pest — it has months of fruit to tunnel into, and every bored fruit is unsaleable.
This guide follows the crop from nursery to the last picking, but two themes run through it: manage the borer by clipping and scouting rather than by the calendar, and pick fruit young and glossy — a dull, seedy fruit has already lost its market.
Crop timeline, sowing to harvest
A quick visual map of the season — jump to any section below for the detail behind each stage.
- Day 0
Transplanting
4–5 week seedlings set at 60×60 cm into a well-manured, well-drained bed.
- Day 7–10
Establishment
Roots take hold; gap-fill casualties and clip any borer-hit shoots from the very start.
- Day 25–40
Vegetative frame
The bush builds the branch frame that will carry fruit through many picks — nitrogen and clean weeding here set the ceiling.
- Day 45–60
Flowering
The first flowers open; borer and jassid pressure starts and must be scouted, not calendar-sprayed.
- Day 60–75
First harvest
The earliest fruit reach a glossy, tender, market size — the first of many pickings begins.
- Day 75–150
Repeated picking
The plant keeps flowering and fruiting; regular picking every 3–5 days and steady feeding keep it productive for months.
- Day 150–180
End of crop
Yield tails off as the plant tires; a well-kept ratoon or fresh planting takes over.
Suitable states
States where this crop is grown at scale, highlighted below. Your local Krishi Vigyan Kendra is still the final word for your specific block.
- Jammu and Kashmir
- Himachal Pradesh
- Punjab
- Uttarakhand
- Haryana
- Delhi
- Uttar Pradesh
- Rajasthan
- Bihar
- Jharkhand
- West Bengal
- Sikkim
- Assam
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Meghalaya
- Nagaland
- Manipur
- Mizoram
- Tripura
- Gujarat
- Madhya Pradesh
- Chhattisgarh
- Maharashtra
- Odisha
- Goa
- Telangana
- Andhra Pradesh
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Tamil Nadu
- Puducherry
- Ladakh
- Chandigarh
Grown here
Climate requirements
Brinjal is a warm-season crop that dislikes both cold and extreme heat. Its long field life means it meets several weather phases — plan the planting so the main picking period avoids the harshest heat or the heaviest monsoon in your area.
Ideal temperature
20–30°C is ideal; growth slows below 17°C and fruit set drops above 35°C
Rainfall
Grown mainly on irrigation; heavy rain at flowering causes flower drop and fruit rot
Humidity
Moderate; prolonged high humidity favours phomopsis fruit rot and bacterial wilt
Sunlight
Full sun through the season for continuous flowering and fruiting
Soil requirements
Because brinjal crops the field for months, it draws heavily on the soil — start with plenty of well-rotted FYM. Never follow brinjal with brinjal, tomato, chilli or potato, all of which share bacterial wilt; rotate with a cereal or legume to break the disease cycle.
Suitable soil
Well-drained sandy loam to clay-loam rich in organic matter
pH range
5.5–6.6 is ideal; it tolerates a slightly wider range on good soils
Drainage
Good drainage is essential — waterlogging invites bacterial wilt and root rot
Organic matter
High; a base of 20–25 t/ha FYM supports the long cropping period
Land preparation
Same four steps whichever region you are in — only the timing shifts with the sowing window.
- 1
Deep, manured tilth
Two or three ploughings with 20–25 t/ha of well-rotted FYM worked in, harrowed to a fine, level bed that drains well.
- 2
Healthy nursery
Raise seedlings on a raised nursery bed, drench against damping-off, and harden them before lifting sturdy 4–5 week transplants.
- 3
Basal fertiliser and ridges
Apply basal phosphorus, potash and part of the nitrogen, and form ridges or flat beds to suit the irrigation method.
Seed information
How the main varieties compare, so you can pick by duration, yield, disease pressure or what you are growing for.
| Variety | Duration | Yield | Disease resistance | Best state | Suitable for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pusa Purple Long Popular long purple variety with tender, glossy fruit and wide adaptability. | 150–160 days | Medium–high | Moderate | Uttar Pradesh | Fresh market, long fruit |
Pusa Kranti Early, dwarf variety with oval-round purple fruit for the plains. | 140–150 days | Medium | Moderate | Delhi | Early crop, round fruit |
Arka Nidhi IIHR variety bred with bacterial-wilt resistance — valuable where wilt is a problem. | 150–160 days | High | Resistant to bacterial wilt | Karnataka | Wilt-prone areas, long fruit |
Arka Shirish Long light-green fruited IIHR variety, wilt-resistant and well suited to the south. | 150–160 days | High | Resistant to bacterial wilt | Karnataka | Wilt-prone areas, green fruit |
Pusa Hybrid 6 / regional F1s Vigorous, high-yielding hybrids in purple and round types across regions. | 150–170 days | High | Variable by hybrid | Maharashtra | Commercial, high yield |
- Seed rate
- 400–500 g/ha to raise the nursery for one hectare
- Certified seed
- In bacterial-wilt-prone soils, choose a wilt-resistant variety such as Arka Nidhi or Arka Shirish — this single choice can save the crop. Buy fresh certified seed from a reputable source rather than saving seed from a diseased field.
- Spacing
- 60 cm between rows × 60 cm within the row (wider for spreading types)
- Seed treatment
- Treat seed against damping-off with Thiram or Carbendazim, and dip seedling roots in an insecticide-plus-fungicide solution at transplanting to protect against early borer and soil disease.
Sowing guide
Sturdy, hardened seedlings establish faster and start bearing sooner. Set plants at the full 60×60 cm — crowding a long-duration bush crop worsens humidity in the canopy and helps both borer and fruit rot.
- Best time
- Transplant year-round in mild areas; the main seasons are June–July (kharif) and October–November (rabi), with a February–March summer crop
- Row spacing
- 60 cm
- Plant spacing
- 60 cm within the row
- Sowing depth
- Transplant to the depth the seedling grew in the nursery
- Method
- Transplant sturdy 4–5 week seedlings in the evening and water in immediately
Fertilizer schedule
A split dose beats one large dose applied at sowing — nitrogen especially is lost to the air and to leaching if it all goes in on day one.
- 1
Basal (at transplanting)
Day 0
Full phosphorus and potash with one-third of the nitrogen on a base of 20–25 t/ha FYM — around 50 N : 50 P₂O₅ : 50 K₂O kg/ha basally.
- 2
First top-dressing
Active growth (25–30 days)
One-third of the nitrogen at branch-frame growth, with irrigation and earthing-up.
- 3
Second top-dressing
Flowering (45–55 days)
The remaining nitrogen as flowering and fruiting begin, to sustain the long picking period.
- 4
Maintenance feeds
Through picking
On a long crop, small supplementary doses of nitrogen and potash after heavy picking flushes keep the plant bearing.
Irrigation schedule
1. After transplanting
Day 0–7
Light, frequent irrigation to establish seedlings.
2. Vegetative growth
20–45 days
Irrigate every 7–10 days to build a strong branch frame.
3. Flowering and fruiting
45 days onward
Keep moisture steady through the long picking period; stress here causes flower drop and small fruit.
Critical stages
- Flowering
- Fruit development and each picking flush
Water-saving tips
- Drip irrigation delivers steady moisture over the long crop while keeping foliage dry, cutting disease.
- Mulching holds moisture and suppresses weeds through the months-long crop.
- Avoid moisture swings — alternating drought and flooding causes flower drop and fruit cracking.
Weed management
Organic control
- Mulching between ridges suppresses weeds and conserves moisture over the long crop.
- Hand weeding and earthing-up at 25 and 45 days keeps the crop clean and steadies the bushes.
Chemical control
- Pre-emergence Pendimethalin 1.0 kg a.i./ha after transplanting on moist soil controls early weeds.
- Follow with one or two manual weedings with earthing-up.
Nutrient deficiency identification
What a shortage of each nutrient actually looks like on the plant, so you can tell a deficiency apart from a disease before you spray the wrong thing.
Nitrogen
Visible symptom
Pale, small older leaves and a weak plant with few branches and small fruit.
Potassium
Visible symptom
Scorched older leaf margins and poorly filled, dull fruit — heavy croppers draw a lot of potash.
Magnesium
Visible symptom
Interveinal yellowing of older leaves with green veins, on light or acidic soils.
Boron
Visible symptom
Corky patches and cracking on fruit and death of growing points, on deficient soils.
Iron
Visible symptom
Yellowing of the youngest leaves with green veins, worst on alkaline or waterlogged soil.
Diseases to watch for
Symptoms, likely cause and what actually treats it — not just a spray name.
Bacterial wilt
- Symptoms
- Sudden wilting of a green, healthy-looking plant without yellowing; a cut stem oozes milky bacterial streams in water.
- Cause
- Ralstonia solanacearum, a persistent soil-borne bacterium, worst in warm, wet, poorly drained soil.
- Treatment
- No cure once a plant wilts; rogue out and destroy affected plants and improve drainage.
- Prevention
- Grow a wilt-resistant variety (Arka Nidhi, Arka Shirish), rotate away from brinjal/tomato/chilli/potato for 2–3 years, and never grow on waterlogged land.
Phomopsis blight & fruit rot
- Symptoms
- Grey-brown leaf and stem lesions, and soft, sunken, rotting patches on the fruit that spread in storage.
- Cause
- Phomopsis vexans, seed-borne and favoured by warm, humid weather.
- Treatment
- Remove affected fruit and spray a fungicide such as Mancozeb or Carbendazim at first appearance.
- Prevention
- Use treated, disease-free seed, avoid dense humid canopies and rotate crops.
Little leaf
- Symptoms
- Leaves turn small, narrow, soft and pale and cluster into a bushy top; affected plants are sterile and set no fruit.
- Cause
- A phytoplasma spread by leafhoppers — not seed-borne.
- Treatment
- There is no cure; rogue out affected plants promptly and control the leafhopper vector.
- Prevention
- Remove infected plants early, control leafhoppers, and keep weed hosts down around the field.
Damping-off (nursery)
- Symptoms
- Seedlings rot at the collar and topple in patches in the nursery.
- Cause
- Pythium and Rhizoctonia in wet, over-crowded nurseries.
- Treatment
- Drench the nursery with Copper oxychloride or a recommended fungicide and reduce watering.
- Prevention
- Treat seed, raise nurseries on raised beds, and avoid over-watering and over-crowding.
Pests to watch for
What to look for before the damage is visible, and organic options before you reach for a chemical.
Shoot & fruit borer
- Identification
- Pinkish caterpillars that bore into growing shoots (which wilt and droop) and into fruit, leaving a plugged entry hole and tunnelled, frass-filled flesh.
- Damage
- The single most damaging brinjal pest — bored shoots die back and bored fruit are unsaleable through the whole long crop.
- Organic control
- Clip and destroy wilting bored shoots weekly, install pheromone traps, remove and bury bored fruit at every picking, and spray Bt or neem; conserve natural enemies by avoiding routine broad-spectrum sprays.
- Chemical control
- Scout-based, rotated insecticides (e.g. emamectin benzoate or chlorantraniliprole) only when fresh damage crosses threshold — never a fixed weekly calendar spray, which breeds resistance.
Jassids (leafhoppers)
- Identification
- Tiny green wedge-shaped hoppers on the leaf underside that move sideways when disturbed.
- Damage
- Sap loss causes leaf curling, yellowing and "hopper burn"; they also spread little leaf.
- Organic control
- Neem oil sprays, yellow sticky traps and conserving natural enemies.
- Chemical control
- A recommended systemic insecticide when populations build, rotated with borer sprays.
Whitefly
- Identification
- Tiny white flies that rise in a cloud when the canopy is disturbed; nymphs feed on the leaf underside.
- Damage
- Sap loss and sooty mould, and transmission of viral and little-leaf-type disorders.
- Organic control
- Yellow sticky traps, neem sprays and clean field borders.
- Chemical control
- A recommended insecticide directed at the leaf underside when numbers are high.
Epilachna (hadda) beetle
- Identification
- Spotted orange-brown beetles and their spiny grubs that scrape the leaf surface, leaving a lace-like skeleton.
- Damage
- Defoliation that weakens the plant and cuts yield.
- Organic control
- Hand-collect beetles and grubs and destroy egg clusters on the leaf underside.
- Chemical control
- A recommended insecticide on the infested foliage when damage builds.
Common mistakes to avoid
The mistakes that cost growers the most, ranked by how often they show up in the field — not in the order you might expect.
- 1
Fighting the shoot & fruit borer with fixed weekly calendar sprays.
Why it hurts
The borer quickly grows resistant, the sprays stop working, and residues build up on fruit picked every few days — clipping bored shoots, pheromone traps and scout-based spraying work far better.
- 2
Not clipping and destroying wilting bored shoots.
Why it hurts
Each caterpillar left inside a shoot goes on to bore fruit; a weekly clip-and-destroy round removes them before they reach the fruit.
- 3
Leaving bored or over-mature fruit on the plant.
Why it hurts
Bored fruit shelters the next generation of borer and over-mature fruit turn dull and seedy — both drag the crop down; pick clean and often.
- 4
Growing brinjal after brinjal, tomato, chilli or potato.
Why it hurts
Bacterial wilt and shared soil diseases build up until plants wilt and die in patches — rotate with a cereal or legume for 2–3 years.
- 5
Ignoring little leaf and leaving infected plants in the field.
Why it hurts
The phytoplasma spreads through leafhoppers to healthy plants, each infected plant setting no fruit at all — rogue them out early and control the vector.
- 6
Picking fruit too late.
Why it hurts
A glossy, tender fruit fetches a premium; left a few days it dulls, the seeds harden and the price collapses.
- 7
Growing on poorly drained land.
Why it hurts
Waterlogging triggers bacterial wilt and root rot on a crop that will be in the ground for months — good drainage is not optional.
- 8
Crowding the plants closer than 60×60 cm.
Why it hurts
A dense canopy stays humid and dark, feeding fruit rot and borer and making spraying ineffective.
- 9
Starving a long-duration crop of nutrients.
Why it hurts
Without maintenance feeds after picking flushes, the plant tires early and the productive period is cut short.
- 10
Using saved seed from a diseased crop.
Why it hurts
Phomopsis is seed-borne — saved seed carries the blight into the new crop; use fresh treated certified seed.
Harvesting
Pick fruit while it is young, glossy, firm and full-coloured for the variety — before the skin dulls and the seeds harden. The first fruit are ready 60–75 days after transplanting, and picking continues every 3–5 days for months.
Signs it is ready
- Fruit skin bright and glossy
- Fruit firm with a springy feel
- Seeds still soft and white inside
Tools
- Sharp knife or secateurs to cut with a short stalk
- Crates for gentle handling
- Shade for holding before market
Expected yield
250–400 q/ha over the full picking period for a well-managed crop
Post-harvest & storage
Storage
Brinjal is perishable and chilling-sensitive — it keeps about a week at 8–10°C with high humidity and bruises easily. Do not store below 7°C, which causes pitting and browning.
Packaging
Pack firm, glossy fruit in ventilated crates with a short stalk left on, avoiding pressure that bruises the tender skin.
Transportation
Move to market quickly and cool; bruised or over-mature fruit lose grade fast.
Shelf life
About a week in cool storage; best sold fresh within a few days.
Market prices
Today's mandi price near you, pulled live from the government's own Agmarknet data.
Live daily mandi prices from the government Agmarknet dataset.
Synced from data.gov.in (Agmarknet). Rates are ₹ per quintal.
Weather
Current conditions and a 5-day outlook for your selected location, with one line of stage-aware advice.
Pick your state for current conditions and a 5-day outlook.
Live data from Open-Meteo
Profit calculator
Your own cost sheet, expected yield and selling price — not ours.
Where the money goes
Share of the total cost per acre, using the calculator’s own default cost sheet below — adjust the numbers there to match your field and this picture will no longer apply to you exactly, but the ranking rarely changes.
- Labour35% (₹20,000)
- Land rent18% (₹10,000)
- Pesticide & weedicide14% (₹8,000)
- Fertiliser12% (₹7,000)
- Irrigation9% (₹5,000)
- Machinery4% (₹2,500)
- Interest4% (₹2,500)
- Seed4% (₹2,000)
Official downloads
Government and ICAR documents only — everything below is hosted on an official server.
Frequently asked questions
How do I control the brinjal shoot and fruit borer without constant spraying?
The borer is best managed by cultural steps, not calendar sprays. Walk the field weekly and clip off any wilting, drooping shoots (a caterpillar is inside) and destroy them; remove and bury every bored fruit at each picking; and install pheromone traps. Only spray a scout-triggered, rotated insecticide when fresh damage crosses threshold. Fixed weekly sprays breed resistance and leave residues on fruit you pick every few days.
Why did my brinjal plant suddenly wilt while still green?
That is the classic sign of bacterial wilt — the plant wilts without yellowing, and a cut stem oozes milky bacterial streams in water. It is soil-borne and incurable once it strikes. Rogue out affected plants, improve drainage, and next season grow a wilt-resistant variety like Arka Nidhi and rotate away from brinjal, tomato, chilli and potato.
What is little leaf disease in brinjal?
Little leaf is a phytoplasma disorder spread by leafhoppers. The leaves become small, narrow and pale and bunch into a bushy top, and the plant sets no fruit at all. There is no cure — pull out and destroy infected plants as soon as you see them and control the leafhopper vector so it does not spread to healthy plants.
When should I pick brinjal fruit?
Pick while the fruit is young, glossy and firm, with soft white seeds inside — this is when it fetches the best price. If you wait, the skin turns dull, the seeds harden and darken, and the fruit becomes bitter and unsaleable. On a healthy crop you pick every 3–5 days.
How long does a brinjal crop keep yielding?
From a single planting brinjal bears over many pickings for about four to six months. To sustain that long productive period, keep moisture steady, give small maintenance feeds of nitrogen and potash after heavy picking flushes, and stay on top of the shoot and fruit borer throughout.
Does brinjal have an MSP?
No. Brinjal is a market vegetable with no Minimum Support Price — its price is set by local mandi demand and supply and swings with the season and glut. Use the live mandi prices on this page and the profit calculator to judge when your fruit is worth taking to market.
Still have questions?
The FAQs above cover the common ones. For anything specific to your field and soil, your nearest Krishi Vigyan Kendra is the authoritative answer.