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Vegetables · Fruiting

Growing brinjal

Solanum melongena · also called Baingan, Wangun (Kashmiri)A warm season fruit vegetable raised in a nursery and transplanted. It needs a long, sunny, frost-free season and bears over several months.

Gangetic plains: eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plains

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
A round green brinjal fruit hanging under the leaves of a brinjal plant
Photo: Dr. Anil Kumar Swain - Sr. Scientist & Head. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, OUAT, Nayagarh · CC0

At a glance

Brinjal in the Gangetic plains

  • Season

    Rabi crop sown in October to November; kharif crop sown in May to June7

  • Sowing to last picking

    About 6 to 8 months from nursery sowing to the last picking.

    No published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

  • Nursery

    October to November7

    Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Sow now

The window here is October to November.

Sowing now in:North-west plainsArid westCentral plateauDeccan plateau
  • Nursery
  • Transplant
  • Harvest
  • Under cover
  • Today
Gangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and Spiti · Under cover onlySub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
Gangetic plainsOctober to NovemberMay to JuneNovember to DecemberJune to July
Temperate HimalayaMarch to MayAprilApril to JuneEnd of MayJuly to September
Cold desertUnder cover onlyUnder cover: Late March to April, under coverUnder cover: May, in the greenhouseUnder cover: July to September
Sub-tropical foothillsJanuaryFebruary to MarchMayMarch to AprilUnder cover: December, under low poly tunnelsFebruaryMarch to AprilJuneApril to MayUnder cover: January, into trenches
North-west plainsOctoberNovember, protected from frostFebruary to MarchJulyNovemberFirst half of FebruaryBy the end of AprilAugust
North-east hills and valleysEarly September to OctoberJanuary to FebruaryOctober to NovemberFebruary to March
Arid westJune to JulyOctober to NovemberFebruary to MarchJuly to AugustNovember to DecemberMarch to April
Central plateauJune to JulyOctober to NovemberFebruary to MarchJuly to AugustNovember to DecemberMarch to April
Deccan plateauJune to JulyOctober to NovemberFebruary to MarchJuly to AugustNovember to DecemberMarch to April
South interiorDecember to JanuaryMay to JuneJanuary to FebruaryJune to July
West coastMay to June, before the monsoonSeptember to October
East coastDecember to JanuaryMay to JuneJanuary to FebruaryJune to July

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Farmyard manure7

    20 to 25 tonnes per hectare · Mix into the soil while preparing the field. · Field preparation

  2. Day 0

    Sow

  3. Day 6 to 10

    Seeds come up5,7Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  4. Day 25 to 30

    Transplant7,5,4,9

  5. Day 180 to 240

    Last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Water at regular intervals and avoid water stress during flowering and fruiting.7

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH3,1,2

    5.5 to 6.8

    Grows on most soils, from light sandy to heavy clay, if they are deep, fertile and well drained. Silt loam and clay loam suit it most; sandy loam gives an earlier crop.

  • Sunlight1

    Full sun. It needs a long, warm growing season with plenty of sunshine.

  • Temperature1,2,3

    Grows best at 21 to 27 °C

    Frost: none tolerated.

    Monthly temperatures for the Gangetic plains aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering7

Water at regular intervals and avoid water stress during flowering and fruiting.

Weeding7

Two or three hand weedings; mulching also keeps weeds down.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Field preparationFarmyard manure20 to 25 tonnes per hectareMix into the soil while preparing the field.

Sources7

Varieties and yield

Typical range7

25 to 35 tonnes a hectare

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Varieties grown here7

  • Kashi Uttam

    Round purple; for Uttar Pradesh

  • Kashi Himani

    Long white; kharif; for Uttar Pradesh

  • Kashi Vijay

    Medium long; tolerant to phomopsis blight and Fusarium wilt

  • Kashi Taru

    Long dark purple

  • Kashi Prakash

    Long light green

  • Kashi Brinjal Green Round

    For early August transplanting

  • Kashi Sandesh

    Hybrid, medium round

Good neighbours4,1,8

Grows well with

Pests and diseases4

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Shoot and fruit borer (Leucinodes orbonalis)

    Signs

    Caterpillars bore into tender shoots, which droop and dry, and then into the fruits, which show holes.

    What to do

    • Remove and destroy infested shoots and fruits at regular intervals until the last harvest.
    • Put up pheromone traps from about 20 days after transplanting: 4 to 5 an acre to watch moth numbers, 10 an acre about 10 m apart for mass trapping. Change the lures regularly.
    • Release the egg parasitoid Trichogramma chilonis every week from about 21 days after transplanting.
    • Spray neem seed kernel extract 5%.

    Prevention

    • Grow two rows of brinjal to one row of coriander or fennel.
    • Avoid growing brinjal and potato again and again on the same land.
    • Grow tolerant varieties where they suit the region.

  • Pest

    Hadda beetle (Epilachna vigintioctopunctata)

    Signs

    Grubs and adults scrape the leaf surface, leaving skeletonised leaves.

    What to do

    • Pick off grubs, pupae and adults by hand from skeletonised leaves and destroy them.
    • Spray neem seed kernel extract 5%.

    Prevention

    • Conserve its parasitoid wasps and predatory bugs.

  • Pest

    Jassid or leafhopper (Amrasca biguttula biguttula)

    Signs

    Sucks sap from the underside of leaves; leaves turn pale and curl. It also spreads little leaf.

    What to do

    • Remove affected parts.
    • Spray neem seed kernel extract 5%.
    • Conserve ladybird beetles and lacewings.

    Prevention

    • Grow okra as a trap crop.

  • Pest

    Spider mites (Tetranychus species)

    Signs

    Pale specks on the leaves, fine webbing, then leaf drop in hot dry weather.

    What to do

    • Uproot and destroy infested plants while the mites are still on a few plants.
    • Spray neem seed kernel extract 5%.
    • Conserve predatory mites and lacewings.

    Prevention

    • Avoid water and nutrient stress; mulch and add organic matter to hold moisture.
    • Keep the field free of weeds.

  • Pest

    Stem borer

    Signs

    Caterpillars tunnel down the stem; plants droop and die.

    What to do

    • Uproot and destroy infested plants.
    • Run a light trap at dusk, one an acre.

    Prevention

    • Do not keep a ratoon crop.

  • Pest

    Root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne species)

    Signs

    Knot-like galls on the roots; plants stay small and yellow.

    What to do

    • Apply 2 tonnes of FYM enriched with 100 to 200 kg of neem or pongamia cake per acre in the main field.

    Prevention

    • Plough deep in summer.
    • Solarise nursery beds under clear polythene for about three weeks before sowing.

  • Disease

    Damping off

    Signs

    Seedlings rot at the base and fall over in the nursery.

    What to do

    • Treat seed with Trichoderma viride, 5 g per kg of seed, before sowing.
    • Drench the nursery with Trichoderma viride.

    Prevention

    • Raise seedlings on beds more than 15 cm high or in pro-trays with a clean potting mix.
    • Do not overwater; keep the nursery well drained.

  • Disease

    Phomopsis blight

    Signs

    Brown spots on leaves and fruits; the fruit rots.

    What to do

    • Remove and destroy diseased plant debris.

    Prevention

    • Take seed only from healthy fruits and give it hot water at 50 °C for 30 minutes.
    • Rotate with crops outside the tomato family and avoid brinjal after brinjal.
    • Plough deep in summer.
    • Grow resistant varieties.

  • Disease

    Bacterial wilt

    Signs

    Plants wilt suddenly while still green.

    What to do

    • Mix Trichoderma viride with FYM and spread it over the field before planting.
    • Use neem cake.

    Prevention

    • Grow resistant varieties.
    • Rotate with maize, soybean, wheat, rice, sesame or a green manure.
    • Grow a mustard-family green manure and dig it in.
    • Solarise nursery soil under clear polythene for 8 to 10 weeks in March to June.

  • Disease

    Little leaf (phytoplasma, spread by leafhoppers)

    Signs

    Leaves are tiny and crowded; plants turn bushy and bear no fruit.

    What to do

    • Pull out and destroy affected plants early.
    • Keep leafhoppers down with the measures above.

    Prevention

    • Remove weeds of the tomato family.
    • Grow tolerant varieties.

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed1,2,3

Grow seed plants at least 200 m from other brinjal varieties. Check the crop three times (at growth, at flowering and fruiting, and before harvest) and pull out off-types and diseased plants.

When the seed is ready

Seed fruits are ready when at least a third of the fruit has turned yellow.

Cleaning the seed

Cut or crush ripe fruits and leave them overnight. Work the seed out by hand in a tub of water: the flesh floats and the seed sinks. Wash several times and do it in the morning so the seed dries the same day.

Dry the seed straight after washing, in part shade, before packing and labelling it.

After the last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Pull out the plants after the last picking and destroy any with wilt or little leaf. Follow with a cereal or a legume, not another tomato family crop.

Remove and destroy infested plants and crop residues straight after the last harvest, so borers and disease do not carry over to the next crop.

Rotation

Do not grow brinjal on the same land year after year. Rotate with crops outside the tomato family, such as maize, soybean, wheat, rice, sesame or a green manure, which also lowers bacterial wilt. Avoid following brinjal with potato.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 3Production Technology of Vegetables and Flowers (VSF-231), Part I: Vegetable production (Brinjal)CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (College of Agriculture course notes)Read the source
  2. 4AESA based IPM package: BrinjalNational Institute of Plant Health Management (NIPHM) and Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, Government of IndiaRead the source
  3. 5Brinjal: package of practices (source NHB)Vikaspedia (Government of India), citing the National Horticulture BoardRead the source
  4. 7Brinjal (eggplant): varieties developed by IIVR and cultivation detailsICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, VaranasiRead the source
  5. 9Horticulture: Vegetables: Brinjal (season, seed, cultural practices, manuring, irrigation, yield, varieties), TNAU Agritech PortalTamil Nadu Agricultural University, CoimbatoreRead the source

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