Fig (Anjeer)
Ficus carica
A high-value dryland fruit tree for hot, semi-arid country — it crops early (fruit from the second or third year on a cutting-raised tree), thrives on the medium-to-heavy calcareous soils and dry heat that many fruits dislike, and sells both as a premium fresh fruit and as dried anjeer. It turns on three things: a known improved variety on well-drained land, an annual pruning that carries the crop on the new season's wood, and a dry, rain-free ripening so the soft fruit does not split or sour.
Quick Summary
The key points from this page in about two minutes — read it or have it read aloud.
Quick Summary
Fig (anjeer, Ficus carica) is a high-value but still minor fruit crop in India, grown mainly in western Maharashtra (the Pune–Purandar belt is the best-known fig tract), Gujarat, Karnataka (around Bellary, Chitradurga and Srirangapatna), Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore). It is a deciduous tree suited to a hot, dry, semi-arid climate with plenty of sunshine, and it does well on the medium-to-heavy, calcareous, well-drained soils (pH about 7–8) that many other fruits struggle on — which is part of its appeal for dryland horticulture.
A fig orchard is raised cheaply and quickly from hardwood cuttings (not seed, and not usually grafted), and a cutting-raised tree begins bearing in its second or third year — fast for a fruit tree. The tree bears its main crop on the current season's new growth, so the annual pruning is central: it removes old wood, shapes the tree and forces the new fruit-bearing shoots. Getting that pruning and the tree's training right is what sets the crop and keeps the fruit within reach.
The single biggest risk to fig quality is fruit splitting and souring. The fruit is soft and thin-skinned, and high humidity with cool or wet weather as it ripens makes it split, spoil and lose quality — so figs are grown for a dry, warm, rain-free ripening, and a wet spell at harvest is the main weather danger. Variety choice matters here too: some varieties (Deanna, for example) split far less than the popular Poona fig and Conadria.
Fig sells into two markets — a premium fresh-fruit trade (Pune's figs are well known) and the dried-anjeer dry-fruit market, which gives the crop a storable, higher-value outlet and is a major reason to grow it. It trades on the markets as a priced fruit, though as a minor crop its volumes are small. With a known improved variety, timed pruning, good drainage and a dry ripening, fig is one of the more rewarding dryland fruit trees — but it rewards management, not neglect.
- Crop type
- Deciduous perennial fruit tree (dryland), from cuttings
- Season
- Planted cool season; main fruiting in the warm dry season
- Suitable states
- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu
- Time to bearing
- 2–3 years (cutting-raised); full bearing ~year 5
- Water requirement
- Low–moderate; drought-hardy, needs a dry ripening
- Temperature
- Hot, dry, sunny; a semi-arid, high-summer-temperature crop
- Soil type
- Medium-to-heavy, calcareous, deep, well-drained, pH ~7–8
- Difficulty level
- Moderate — pruning, drainage and a dry ripening decide quality
- Expected yield
- ~10–15 t/ha fresh fruit at full bearing (variety- and management-dependent)
- Key risk
- Fruit splitting/souring in humid or wet weather at ripening
Overview
Fig (anjeer, Ficus carica) is a high-value but minor deciduous fruit tree grown in India mainly in western Maharashtra (the Pune–Purandar belt), Gujarat, Karnataka (Bellary, Chitradurga, Srirangapatna), Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. It suits a hot, dry, semi-arid climate with plenty of sunshine, and does well on medium-to-heavy, calcareous, well-drained soils (pH ~7–8) where many other fruits struggle.
It is raised cheaply from hardwood cuttings (not seed, and not usually grafted) and begins bearing in its second or third year — fast for a fruit tree. It bears its main crop on the current season's new growth, so the annual pruning that removes old wood and forces fresh fruiting shoots is the central operation; getting the pruning and training right sets the crop.
The crop turns on a known improved variety, timed pruning on well-drained land, and above all a dry, rain-free ripening — the soft, thin-skinned fruit splits and sours in humid or wet weather, so a wet spell at harvest is the main risk, and low-splitting varieties (such as Deanna) help. Fig sells both as a premium fresh fruit and as dried anjeer, a storable higher-value dry-fruit market that is a major reason to grow it.
Crop timeline, sowing to harvest
A quick visual map of the season — jump to any section below for the detail behind each stage.
- Year 0
Planting hardwood cuttings
Rooted hardwood cuttings (about 20–30 cm, from 2–3-year-old wood) are planted into well-drained, manured pits at wide spacing in the cool/early season and trained to a framework.
- Year 1–2
Framework & training
The young tree is trained to a low, open framework of a few main branches; light cropping may begin in the second year.
- Year 2–3
First real crop
A cutting-raised fig begins real bearing in its second or third year — early for a fruit tree — building towards full bearing by about year 5.
- Annual · pruning
Pruning (dormant/after harvest)
The central annual operation — pruning removes old wood, shapes the tree and forces the current-season new shoots that carry the main crop; it also keeps the fruit within easy reach.
- Growing season
New growth, flowering & fruit set
The main crop forms on the new season's growth; steady moisture and feeding through growth and fruit set build fruit number and size.
- Ripening
Fruit ripening & harvest
Fruit ripens over several weeks and is picked at full maturity (soft, drooping, coloured); a dry, warm, rain-free ripening is essential to avoid splitting and souring of the soft fruit.
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
- Lakshadweep
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
Grown here
Climate requirements
Fig's whole strength is as a hot, dry-country fruit — grow it where the ripening season is warm and rain-free, on well-drained calcareous land, and choose a low-splitting variety if humidity at harvest is a risk in your area.
Ideal temperature
A hot, dry-climate tree that thrives on high summer temperatures and plenty of sunshine, which ripen a sweet, good-quality fruit. It is deciduous and tolerates a cool, dry winter rest. The fruit quality is highest in a hot, dry ripening season.
Rainfall
Suited to a semi-arid, low-rainfall environment and genuinely drought-hardy once established; it needs only moderate water. The critical point is that high humidity combined with cool or wet weather as the fruit ripens causes fruit splitting and low fruit quality — so a dry, rain-free ripening is essential and a wet monsoon spell at harvest is the main weather risk.
Humidity
Prefers a dry atmosphere; high humidity at ripening is exactly what splits and sours the soft fruit and raises rust and fruit-rot risk.
Sunlight
A full-sun crop — strong sunshine gives the best fruit set, sweetness and quality. Shaded trees fruit poorly.
Soil requirements
A deep, well-drained, calcareous soil in a hot, dry, sunny site is ideal — fig suits exactly the medium-to-heavy, slightly alkaline land that many other fruit trees dislike.
Suitable soil
Does best on medium-to-heavy, calcareous, deep (about 1 m), well-drained soil — it is one of the few quality fruits that actively suits a calcareous, slightly heavy soil. It tolerates a range of soils but not waterlogging; shallow or poorly-drained land gives a short-lived, unhealthy tree.
pH range
Prefers a neutral-to-alkaline, calcareous soil, roughly pH 7–8 — unusually, a slightly alkaline soil suits it well.
Drainage
Good drainage is essential — the tree will not tolerate waterlogging, and standing water causes root rot; on heavier land, plant on a mound or ensure the pit drains freely.
Organic matter
Responds to well-rotted farmyard manure or compost worked into the pit at planting and top-dressed each year, which lifts fruit number and size.
Land preparation
Same four steps whichever region you are in — only the timing shifts with the sowing window.
- 1
Prepare a well-drained, sunny plot
Choose a hot, sunny, well-drained site on medium-to-heavy calcareous soil; plough and lay out at wide spacing so the open, spreading trees get full sun.
- 2
Dig and fill planting pits
Dig pits a month ahead, expose them to the sun, and refill with topsoil mixed with generous well-rotted FYM; on heavier land ensure the pit drains freely or plant on a slight mound.
- 3
Source rooted hardwood cuttings of a known variety
Raise or buy rooted hardwood cuttings (about 20–30 cm, 1.5 cm thick, from 2–3-year-old wood) of a known improved variety such as Poona or Dinkar; fig is grown from cuttings, not seed.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The most popular fig variety for fresh consumption in India, grown above all in the Pune–Purandar belt of Maharashtra, with purplish-brown skin and good eating quality — the benchmark Indian table fig, though its soft fruit is prone to splitting in humid weather. | Perennial; bears from year 2–3, full bearing by ~year 5 | Good fresh-fruit yield; benchmark table fig | Prone to fruit splitting in humid/wet weather | Maharashtra (Pune, Purandar) | Premium fresh-fruit market |
An improved variety, developed from the Poona fig, that is an improvement over Daulatabad for yield and fruit quality and is gaining commercial importance — a good modern choice for a Maharashtra fresh-fig orchard. | Perennial; bears from year 2–3 | Improved yield and fruit quality over Daulatabad | Improved field performance | Maharashtra | Commercial fresh-fruit orchards seeking improved yield |
A traditional Maharashtra fig variety from the Daulatabad (Aurangabad) tract, long grown for the fresh market and the parent against which the improved variety Dinkar was selected. | Perennial; bears from year 2–3 | Traditional fresh-market yield | Traditional type; prone to splitting in humid weather | Maharashtra (Aurangabad/Daulatabad) | Traditional fresh-market fig cultivation |
A table-fig variety noted for fruit that does not split like Poona and Conadria — a useful trait where humidity at ripening makes splitting a problem; grown for the fresh table market. | Perennial; bears from year 2–3 | Good table-fruit yield; low splitting | Fruit resists splitting better than Poona/Conadria | Grown in fig-suitable tracts across India | Fresh table market where splitting is a risk |
A fig variety grown for table use and processing, valued for its fruit quality; like Poona it can split in humid weather, so it is best suited to a dry ripening season. | Perennial; bears from year 2–3 | Good table and processing-fruit yield | Can split in humid weather | Grown in fig-suitable tracts across India | Table and processing use in dry-ripening areas |
A widely grown international fig cultivar with brownish-purple fruit, hardy and adaptable, grown in India for the fresh market and well-suited to a range of fig tracts. | Perennial; bears from year 2–3 | Good, dependable fresh-fruit yield | Hardy and adaptable | Grown across fig-suitable tracts in India | Dependable fresh-fruit cultivation |
A regional Karnataka fig type maintained by farmers around Bellary, resembling the Poona fig in plant and fruit, with drought tolerance and good quality when dried — well-suited to the dried-anjeer market in the Karnataka tract. | Perennial; bears from year 2–3 | Good yield; good quality when dried | Drought-tolerant regional type | Karnataka (Bellary, Chitradurga) | Dried-anjeer market and drought-prone tracts |
- Seed rate
- Fig is not grown from seed — an orchard is raised from rooted hardwood cuttings (about 20–30 cm long, 1.5 cm thick, taken from 2–3-year-old wood), which root readily. Planting density is roughly 250–400 trees/ha depending on spacing and variety vigour.
- Certified seed
- Raise or buy rooted hardwood cuttings of a known improved variety (Poona or Dinkar for fresh market, Deanna where splitting is a risk, Bellary for drying) from a reputable nursery, a state horticulture department or an ICAR institute; take cuttings only from healthy, true-to-type, disease-free mother trees.
- Spacing
- About 5 × 5 m to 6 × 6 m depending on variety vigour and training; closer high-density plantings are used in some commercial orchards with careful pruning.
- Seed treatment
- Not seed-sown; instead, use clean, healthy, disease-free cuttings, treat the cutting base with a rooting hormone and a fungicide dip before rooting, and plant into a hygienic, well-drained pit to avoid carrying root rot into the orchard.
Sowing guide
Do not plant on waterlogging-prone land, and do not neglect the annual pruning — the main crop is borne on the new season's growth, so pruning is what sets and renews the fruiting wood and keeps the fruit within reach.
- Best time
- Plant rooted cuttings in the cool season (roughly the post-monsoon/winter planting window for the region) so they establish before the heat, or at the start of the growing season where winters are cold. The main fruiting is then set by the annual pruning and the growing-season weather.
- Row spacing
- 5–6 m
- Plant spacing
- 5–6 m
- Sowing depth
- Plant the rooted cutting to the depth it was rooted at, firmed in and watered
- Method
- Plant rooted hardwood cuttings into prepared, manured, free-draining pits; train to a low, open framework over the first year or two, and prune annually to remove old wood and force the current-season fruiting shoots. Keep the ripening season dry.
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 planting & annually
At planting and after pruning each year
Work generous well-rotted FYM (about 20–30 kg per bearing tree per year) plus the full phosphorus and potassium and part of the nitrogen into the root zone after pruning, as the new growth begins.
- 2
Growth & fruit-set top-dressing
As the new growth and fruit form
Top-dress the remaining nitrogen (with potassium) as the new shoots grow and fruit sets, to build fruit number and size; avoid excess nitrogen, which gives leafy growth and delays/reduces fruiting.
- 3
Micronutrient correction
On the alkaline calcareous soils fig favours
A foliar iron/zinc spray corrects the interveinal yellowing that can appear on the calcareous, alkaline soils fig grows on, keeping the foliage productive.
Irrigation schedule
1. Establishment
Regular in the first 2–3 years
Water regularly through the first two to three years to establish the young tree, tapering as it becomes drought-hardy.
2. Growth & fruit development
Steady, moderate through fruiting
Steady, moderate irrigation through new growth and fruit development builds fruit size and number; water stress here shrinks the fruit.
3. Ripening
Reduce as the fruit ripens
Ease back irrigation as the fruit ripens — too much water (and any wet weather) at ripening causes the soft fruit to split and sour.
Critical stages
- Establishment (first 2–3 years)
- Fruit development
Water-saving tips
- Fig is drought-hardy once established — irrigate for fruit size during growth, then cut back for a dry, split-free ripening.
- Drip irrigation delivers steady moisture during fruit development and makes it easy to withhold water as ripening approaches.
- Never let water stand around the roots — fig will not tolerate waterlogging on its deep calcareous soils.
Weed management
Common weeds
Organic control
- Regular shallow hoeing and clearing of the tree basins, timed with manuring and irrigation, keeps the young orchard clean.
- An organic mulch around the trees conserves moisture, suppresses weeds and keeps the roots cool.
- Inter-cropping a short legume in the early years can smother weeds and add nitrogen while the trees are small.
Chemical control
- A pre-emergence or directed herbicide cleared for orchards may be used in the inter-rows with care around the trunks on larger plantings; confirm the product with your horticulture office.
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 green, small leaves and weak new growth with fewer, smaller fruit; corrected with a balanced feed after pruning.
Iron
Visible symptom
Yellowing between the veins of the youngest leaves while the veins stay green — common on the alkaline, calcareous soils fig favours.
Potassium
Visible symptom
Scorched, browning margins on older leaves and smaller, poorer-quality fruit; potassium affects fruit size and sweetness.
Diseases to watch for
Symptoms, likely cause and what actually treats it — not just a spray name.
Fig rust
- Symptoms
- Reddish-brown, rusty powdery pustules on the undersides of the leaves, with yellow spots on the upper surface; a heavy attack yellows and drops the leaves early, weakening the tree and the crop.
- Cause
- The fungus Cerotelium fici, spread by air-borne spores and favoured by warm, humid, wet weather — worst in a wet season or humid tract.
- Treatment
- Spray a recommended fungicide (mancozeb or a copper-based product) at first sign and repeat in humid weather; remove and destroy badly affected fallen leaves.
- Prevention
- Grow in a dry, airy, well-drained site, avoid overhead watering, clear fallen infected leaves, and keep the canopy open by pruning so leaves dry quickly.
Cercospora leaf spot
- Symptoms
- Brown-to-greyish spots on the leaves, enlarging and merging in humid weather until the leaves yellow and fall, reducing the tree's vigour.
- Cause
- Cercospora (and related) fungi, spread by rain-splash and favoured by warm, humid, overcast weather and a dense canopy.
- Treatment
- A protective mancozeb or copper-based spray at first sign, repeated at 10–14-day intervals in humid weather; remove badly affected leaves.
- Prevention
- Keep the canopy open and airy by pruning, avoid overhead watering, and clear infected leaf litter from under the trees.
Pests to watch for
What to look for before the damage is visible, and organic options before you reach for a chemical.
Bark-eating caterpillar
- Identification
- Silken galleries of chewed wood and frass on the trunk and main branches, under which the caterpillar bores into the bark and wood, usually on older, neglected trees; affected branches weaken and die back.
- Damage
- Tunnels the bark and wood, weakening branches and the trunk and reducing yield; a heavy attack can kill limbs on an old tree.
- Organic control
- Clean out the galleries and frass, probe and kill the caterpillar in its tunnel (or plug the tunnel), keep the orchard clean and well-pruned, and remove dead wood that harbours it.
- Chemical control
- Swab or inject a recommended insecticide into the cleaned tunnels where the attack is active; keeping trees vigorous and clean is the main defence.
Fruit fly
- Identification
- Maggots inside ripening fruit, with a puncture mark where the fly laid eggs; fruit rots, oozes and drops, and the damage is hidden until the fruit is cut.
- Damage
- Directly destroys the ripening fruit — the marketable product — and a heavy infestation at ripening is a serious loss, worse in humid weather.
- Organic control
- Hang methyl-eugenol or protein-bait traps to monitor and mass-trap, collect and destroy fallen and infested fruit daily, bag premium fruit where feasible, and harvest promptly at maturity.
- Chemical control
- A recommended bait spray or cover spray timed to ripening where fruit fly is heavy, observing the pre-harvest interval; trapping and sanitation matter as much as spraying.
Mealybugs
- Identification
- White, waxy, cottony clusters of insects on the shoots, leaf axils and fruit, with sticky honeydew and black sooty mould; fruit and shoots are fouled and weakened.
- Damage
- Sap-sucking weakens the shoots and the honeydew/sooty mould downgrades the fruit; heavy colonies on the fruit make it unsaleable.
- Organic control
- Prune out and destroy heavily infested shoots, release or conserve natural enemies (ladybird beetles), spray neem or a soap solution, and control the ants that protect and spread the mealybugs.
- Chemical control
- A recommended insecticide directed at heavy colonies, with wetting agent to penetrate the waxy cover; control the attendant ants to make any treatment work.
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
Letting the fruit ripen into humid or wet weather.
Why it hurts
Fig's soft, thin-skinned fruit splits and sours in high humidity and wet weather at ripening — the single biggest cause of lost quality. Time the crop for a dry, warm, rain-free ripening, reduce irrigation as the fruit ripens, and grow a low-splitting variety (such as Deanna) where humidity at harvest is a risk.
- 2
Neglecting the annual pruning.
Why it hurts
The main crop is borne on the current season's new growth, so pruning is what renews the fruiting wood, sets the crop and keeps the fruit within reach. An unpruned tree grows tall and leafy with fruit out of reach and a declining crop.
- 3
Planting on waterlogging-prone or poorly-drained land.
Why it hurts
Fig suits deep, well-drained, calcareous soil and will not tolerate standing water, which causes root rot and a short-lived, unhealthy tree. Choose a free-draining site and plant on a mound on heavier land.
- 4
Over-feeding nitrogen.
Why it hurts
Too much nitrogen gives lush, leafy growth at the expense of fruit and delays and reduces cropping. Use a balanced feed with adequate phosphorus and potassium, split the nitrogen, and do not push nitrogen alone.
- 5
Growing it in a humid, high-rainfall area.
Why it hurts
Fig is a hot, dry-climate fruit — in a humid, high-rainfall area it suffers heavy rust, leaf spot and fruit splitting and rarely gives quality fruit. Grow it in the semi-arid, hot, dry tracts it is suited to.
Harvesting
Pick figs at full ripeness, when the fruit has softened, begun to droop on the stalk and coloured up for the variety — a fig does not ripen further once picked, so it must be picked ripe, but it is then very perishable. Harvest in the cool of the morning and handle gently, as the soft fruit bruises easily. For drying (anjeer), the fruit is picked ripe and dried in the sun or a drier; a dry, rain-free ripening is essential either way.
Signs it is ready
- Fruit softened and drooping on the stalk
- Skin coloured up fully for the variety
- Picked ripe (figs do not ripen further off the tree) but handled gently
- For drying: ripe fruit dried in sun/drier in a dry spell
Tools
- Shallow trays or crates for the soft, easily-bruised fresh fruit
- A shaded, cool collection point for quick dispatch
- Drying trays or a solar/mechanical drier for anjeer
Expected yield
Roughly 10–15 tonnes per hectare of fresh fruit at full bearing for a well-managed orchard, depending heavily on variety, spacing, pruning and climate; a share is dried into higher-value anjeer.
Post-harvest & storage
Storage
Fresh figs are highly perishable and are sold within a day or two, kept cool; refrigeration extends this only a few days. The storable form is dried anjeer — the ripe fruit is dried in the sun or a drier to a low moisture, after which it keeps for months and fetches a higher, more stable price.
Packaging
Fresh fruit packed in a single layer in shallow ventilated trays or punnets to avoid crushing; dried anjeer packed in sealed, moisture-proof packs once properly dried.
Transportation
Move fresh fruit quickly in a cool chain to the nearest market, as it bruises and spoils fast; dried anjeer travels and stores robustly and reaches distant markets.
Shelf life
A day or two for fresh fruit (a few days refrigerated); several months for properly dried anjeer in moisture-proof packaging.
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.
- Labour31% (₹8,000)
- Land rent27% (₹7,000)
- Fertiliser10% (₹2,500)
- Pesticide & weedicide10% (₹2,500)
- Seed8% (₹2,000)
- Irrigation8% (₹2,000)
- Interest5% (₹1,200)
- Machinery4% (₹1,000)
Official downloads
Government and ICAR documents only — everything below is hosted on an official server.
Vikaspedia — Fig (Anjeer)
Fig cultivation package of practices in plain language
National Horticulture Board (NHB)
Fruit-crop cultivation, post-harvest and marketing guidance
ICAR / State Agricultural University horticulture extension
Variety and package-of-practice guidance for fig-growing states
Kisan Call Centre — 1800-180-1551
Free crop advice in your language
Frequently asked questions
How soon does a fig tree start bearing?
Fast for a fruit tree — a fig raised from a rooted hardwood cutting begins real bearing in its second or third year and reaches full bearing by about year five. That early, dependable cropping, together with cheap cutting propagation, is part of what makes fig attractive for dryland horticulture.
Why do my figs split and spoil?
Almost always because of high humidity or wet weather as the fruit ripens. The fig is soft and thin-skinned, so humid or rainy conditions at ripening make it split, sour and rot — the single biggest cause of lost fig quality. Time the crop for a dry, warm, rain-free ripening, reduce irrigation as the fruit ripens, and where humidity at harvest is a risk, grow a low-splitting variety such as Deanna.
What soil and climate suit fig?
A hot, dry, semi-arid climate with plenty of sunshine and a dry ripening season, on medium-to-heavy, deep, calcareous, well-drained soil of about pH 7–8. Unusually for a quality fruit, fig actively suits a slightly alkaline, calcareous, somewhat heavy soil that many other fruit trees dislike — but it will not tolerate waterlogging, so drainage is essential.
Which fig variety should I grow?
For the fresh market in Maharashtra, Poona fig is the benchmark table fig and Dinkar is an improved selection over Daulatabad with better yield and quality. Where humidity at ripening makes splitting a problem, Deanna splits far less. For the dried-anjeer market and drought-prone Karnataka tracts, the Bellary type is well-suited. Brown Turkey is a hardy, adaptable international option. Choose for your market (fresh vs dried) and your climate (splitting risk).
Does fig sell fresh or dried, and is there a market?
Both — and that dual market is a major reason to grow it. Fresh figs fetch a premium but are highly perishable and sold within a day or two (Pune's figs are well known), while dried anjeer is a storable, higher-value dry-fruit product that keeps for months and reaches distant markets. Fig trades as a priced fruit on the markets, though as a minor crop its volumes are small; check your nearest fruit market and dry-fruit buyers for current rates.
Is fig a high-water crop?
No — it is drought-hardy once established and needs only low-to-moderate water. In fact the key is to irrigate for fruit size during growth and then cut back as the fruit ripens, because too much water (or any wet weather) at ripening makes the soft fruit split and sour. Good drainage matters more than heavy watering.
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.