N-53 (Nashik Red)
The standard kharif red onion from Niphad, grown across the country — early and good to sell fresh, but a poor keeper.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Onion
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- Kharif
- Maturity period
- 90–100 days after transplanting
- Seed rate
- 5–7 kg seed per hectare, sown on about 0.05 ha of raised nursery bed
- Expected yield
- About 250 q/ha (25 t/ha)
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- No specific bred-in resistance
- Release
- Listed by the National Horticulture Board with Niphad, Maharashtra as its source; no central release notification was found for it
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
N-53, sold as Nashik Red, is the best-known kharif red onion of the Nashik belt and is grown for the kharif season across much of the country. The National Horticulture Board lists its source as Niphad, Maharashtra. Bulbs are flattish-round, red, medium to large and mildly pungent, with TSS of 11–12%. The crop is ready for harvest 90–100 days after transplanting and averages about 25 t/ha. It is suitable for export as a fresh onion, but its keeping quality is poor, so it is a sell-soon crop rather than a store-and-wait one.
Should you pick this variety?
Pick N-53 (Nashik Red) when you want a kharif onion that comes off the field early and goes straight to the market. It is the quickest onion on this site, a week or so ahead of Agrifound Dark Red, and its yield sits at the bottom of Dark Red's 250–300 q/ha while topping the 190–220 q/ha that Bhima Red and Bhima Super give from a plain kharif sowing. Flattish-round, mildly pungent red bulbs of medium to large size suit the fresh market and export. The one thing it does not do is store — NHB rates its keeping quality poor, so do not plan to hold the crop for months. Choose Agrifound Dark Red if you want a kharif onion with a dark, tight skin that holds 3–4 months, or Bhima Super if your kharif is very wet.
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timeNursery in May–June and transplanting in July–August for the Maharashtra kharif crop, which is what this variety is meant for (ICAR-DOGR calendar)
- Seed rate5–7 kg seed per hectare, sown on about 0.05 ha of raised nursery bed
- Spacing15 cm between rows, 10 cm between plants
- Sowing methodTransplant 35–40 day old seedlings — a kharif onion planted out late never sizes up. Use broad bed furrows so the monsoon water runs off
- IrrigationWater at transplanting, again after three days, then every 7–10 days — 5–8 irrigations for the kharif crop. Stop 10–15 days before harvest. This variety keeps poorly anyway, so wet bulbs at lifting make it worse
- Fertilizer75:40:40 kg NPK per hectare for kharif: 25 kg N with all the P and K at transplanting, 25 kg N at 30 days and 25 kg N at 45 days, over 15 t/ha of farmyard manure (ICAR-DOGR)
Soil & climate
Soil
- pH
- 6.0–7.5
Climate
- Temperature
- 13–24°C for leaf growth, 16–25°C for bulbing
- Rainfall
- 650–750 mm
Advantages & considerations
Things to consider
- Keeping quality is poor. Plan the harvest around a buyer, not around storage — bulbs will not hold like a rabi onion.
- The 90–100 days is counted from transplanting, not from sowing the nursery. Add roughly 35–45 more days if you are planning from the seed-bed.
- Maharashtra is listed because that is where the variety comes from, but it is grown in kharif in many states. Ask your KVK what it does in your district before taking a large area.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Maharashtra
Sell this one, do not store it
N-53 is early and good to eat fresh, and it is a poor keeper. That is not a fault to manage, it is the plan: harvest at 90–100 days after transplanting and move the crop while the market is still paying for early onion.
Line the buyer up before you lift. Cure the bulbs in shade so the skin sets, grade out the thick-necked and split bulbs that go off first, and send the crop out in small lots rather than heaping it at home. A chawl will not save this variety through the off-season, so if your plan is to store and wait for a price, grow a rabi storage onion such as Pusa Riddhi instead and keep N-53 for the early market.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This is an open-pollinated variety, so seed from a healthy crop of your own can be sown again. Keep seed only from disease-free plants, dry it properly, store it cool and dry, and bring in fresh certified seed every three to four years so the variety does not drift.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Onion variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agrifound Dark Red | Kharif onion with dark, even bulbs for the export trade | 95–110 days after transplanting | 250–300 q/ha | Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh |
| Bhima Red | Onion with the widest official state list, for kharif or rabi | 100–110 days | 190–210 q/ha (kharif) to 480–520 q/ha (late-kharif) | Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu |
| Bhima Super | Wet-season kharif onion, best sown in the late-kharif window | 100–105 days after transplanting (kharif); 110–120 days (late kharif) | 200–220 q/ha (kharif); 400–450 q/ha (late kharif) | Maharashtra, Karnataka |
| N-53 (Nashik Red)this page | An early kharif red onion to harvest and sell fresh | 90–100 days after transplanting | About 250 q/ha (25 t/ha) | Maharashtra |
| Pusa Riddhi | Rabi onion to store six months and sell in the off-season | 110–120 days after transplanting | 300–350 q/ha | Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Onion is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Onion plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Germination CalculatorTest 100 seeds from the bag before sowing and see whether the lot is fit to sow.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Onion variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Onion into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop CalendarMonth-by-month sowing, weeding, irrigation and harvest dates for Onion in your state.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Onion rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Onion seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Is N-53 (Nashik Red) a released institute variety?
The National Horticulture Board lists Niphad, Maharashtra as its source, so it is not a farmer selection without any institute behind it. No central release notification was found for it, so treat it as an old, widely grown commercial variety rather than a recently notified one.
How long does N-53 take to mature?
It is ready for harvest 90–100 days after transplanting, per the National Horticulture Board. Longer figures you may see elsewhere are usually counted from sowing the nursery, which adds about 35–45 days.
What does an N-53 bulb look like?
Flattish-round and red, medium to large in size, mildly pungent, with TSS of 11–12%. Keeping quality is poor, so the bulbs are best sold fresh.
Can I store N-53 onions for a few months?
No. The National Horticulture Board rates its keeping quality as poor. If you need onions that hold, grow a rabi crop of Agrifound Light Red or Bhima Kiran instead, and keep N-53 for the kharif market window.
N-53 or Agrifound Dark Red for a kharif crop?
Both are kharif onions. N-53 is the older name, ready 90–100 days after transplanting at about 25 t/ha, but a poor keeper. Agrifound Dark Red, from NHRDF, matures in 95–110 days and gives 25–30 t/ha of dark, tight-skinned bulbs that keep 3–4 months. The yield gap is small, nil at the low end, so pick Dark Red for storage and bulb colour, and N-53 only if a buyer asks for Nashik Red by name or you need the crop out a week sooner.
Can I grow N-53 outside Maharashtra?
Yes. The National Horticulture Board describes it as very popular for kharif cultivation all over the country. Maharashtra is listed because that is where the variety comes from, not because it is limited to that state. Start with a small plot and ask your KVK how it behaves in your district.
How much N-53 seed do I need, and how big a nursery?
5–7 kg of seed per hectare, raised on about 0.05 ha of raised nursery bed. Keep the bed raised even in a dry spell, because a flat kharif nursery is where most onion crops are lost, before a single plant reaches the field.
What yield does N-53 give?
About 250 q/ha, which is 25 t/ha, in 90–100 days after transplanting at 15 x 10 cm spacing. It is an early kharif onion meant to be sold fresh, so plan the sale, not the store.
Sourced from: Onion Agropedia, ICAR-Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research: kharif season calendar, nursery and seed rate, spacing, fertiliser and irrigation. editorial policy.