Divisi
When to plant Onion in Cheraia
Skikda, Algeria
Onion is a cool-season vegetable you grow for its bulb — the swollen base of the leaves — but across sub-Saharan Africa it is most often grown as an irrigated hot dry-season crop, and it stands real heat (up to about 42 °C) as long as the water never stops.
| Measure | Rain-fed | With irrigation |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | Favourable | |
| When to plant | 31 Aug 2027 – 11 Sep 2027 opens in 48 weeks | 21 Jan 2027 – 29 Aug 2027 |
| Expected harvest | about 14.1 t/ha | about 30.8 t/ha |
| Harvest | From 29 Nov 2027 to 9 Jan 2028, depending on the planting date | |
| Ready to harvest | 90–120 days after planting | |
| Rain meets its needs | 79% | |
Rain-fed. These dates are worked out from each place's own rainfall, for a field watered by the season — with irrigation a window can open earlier, close later, or come round more than once a year. Check your own field under What grows, or get the Divisi app for a calendar dated to your farm.
If you only get one chance to plant, aim for around 11 Sep 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.
This season's rainfall outlook for Cheraia leans dry, so these dates sit later than the long-run average. Planting on the date you are used to risks germinating into a false start and having to replant.
Planting after 11 Sep 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.
What decides this in Cheraia
| Rain and temperature | 88% |
|---|---|
| The soil | 96% |
| The lie of the land | 45% |
For onion in Cheraia, the lie of the land is the tightest of the three at 45%. You cannot flatten it, but you can farm it: plant along the contour rather than up and down, ridge or tie ridges to hold water on the slope, and expect shallower rooting than the crop would manage on flat ground.
The 2026/27 season in Cheraia
| When the rains are expected | September 2026 to May 2027 |
|---|---|
| Rain in a typical year | About 1,058 mm |
| This season's rain | Leaning dry — January, February, November and December look short of rain. Plant at the early end of the window, favour quicker and more drought-tolerant crops, and keep moisture in the soil: mulch, and weed early. |
| This season's heat | Hotter than usual — about +1.1 °C over the growing months. Heat makes the same rain do less, so a dry spell bites sooner: do not plant late, and shade or mulch what you can. |
| What that supports | enough rain for one full main crop, warm, with a cool spell that slows winter growth |
| Ground this covers | 3 kinds of ground. The season below is the largest that farms — about 50% of this area. |
| 50% | enough rain for one full main crop; warm, with a cool spell that slows winter growth 258 growing days · about 1,060 mm · September to May |
|---|---|
| 30% | enough rain for one full main crop; warm, with a cool spell that slows winter growth 253 growing days · about 900 mm · September to May |
| 20% | enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year; warm, with a cool spell that slows winter growth 286 growing days · about 1,230 mm · September to June |
last updated 18 September 2026
Sloping ground holds back about 35% of yield here.
What onion needs to grow here
| Soil it likes | well-drained sandy loam or loam soil |
|---|---|
| Soil sourness (pH) | Happiest between pH 6.0 and 7.0 |
| Spacing | 20 cm between rows, 7 cm between plants |
| Feed it most with | nitrogen, potassium and sulphur |
What it takes to grow onion in Cheraia
| Planting material | About 500,000 plants per hectare |
|---|---|
| Nitrogen (N) | About 25 kg per hectare |
| Phosphate (P₂O₅) | About 5 kg per hectare |
| Potash (K₂O) | About 28 kg per hectare |
| In the shops | A basal compound at planting — Compound D, or an NPK blend — covers the phosphate and potash. A nitrogen top dressing — urea or AN — goes on once the crop is established. |
These are the nutrients a onion crop of that size carries off the field. What you actually apply depends on what your soil already holds — which is what a soil test, or the app's field records, tell you.
What to watch for
Grow Onion with a plan, not a guess
Everything above describes Cheraia as a whole — your own soil, slope and rainfall will shift the dates. The Divisi app works them out for your field, and dates each job that follows.
Onion in nearby districts
This calendar moves
Planting windows shift with the forecast. Leave your email and we'll send what changed, and a note when planting time nears — a couple of emails a month at most.
Frequently asked questions
Will onion grow well in Cheraia?
Cheraia rates as favourable for onion.
When should I plant onion in Cheraia?
Typically 31 Aug 2027 to 11 Sep 2027, forecast-adjusted.
Is this exact for my own field?
No — these are readings taken across Cheraia, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.
