Divisi
When to plant Onion in Egypt
These figures also cover North Sinai and Rafah, where the engine returns the same answer.
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.
| Fit | Favourable |
|---|---|
| When to plant | 27 Dec 2026 – 21 May 2027 opens in 13 weeks |
| Expected harvest | about 41.7 t/ha |
| Harvest | From 27 Mar 2027 to 18 Sep 2027, depending on the planting date |
| Ready to harvest | 90–120 days after planting |
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 1 Jan 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.
This season's rainfall outlook for Egypt is close to normal, so these dates match the pattern the area usually follows.
Planting after 21 May 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.
What decides this in Egypt
| Rain and temperature | 96% |
|---|---|
| The soil | 76% |
| The lie of the land | 88% |
For onion in Egypt, the soil is the tightest of the three at 76%. This is the one you can actually move. Lime raises a sour soil, manure and compost lift what it holds, and both work within a season or two — money spent here changes the answer.
The 2026 season in Egypt
| Rain in a typical year | About 158 mm in a typical farming district |
|---|---|
| Across its districts | From about 1 mm in the driest of 365 districts to about 183 mm in the wettest |
| This season's rain | Rain close to usual — plan around about 158 mm falling roughly when it always does |
| What that supports | enough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it, warm, with a cool spell that slows winter growth |
| Ground this covers | 2 kinds of ground. The season below is one typical farming district's, not a figure for the whole of this area. |
| 81% | too dry for rain-fed cropping without irrigation; warm, with a cool spell that slows winter growth no rain-fed season · about 10 mm |
|---|---|
| 18% | too dry for rain-fed cropping without irrigation; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season no rain-fed season |
last updated 19 September 2026 · from all 365 areas within it
The soil holds back about 10% 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 Egypt
| Planting material | About 500,000 plants per hectare |
|---|---|
| Nitrogen (N) | About 75 kg per hectare |
| Phosphate (P₂O₅) | About 15 kg per hectare |
| Potash (K₂O) | About 83 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 Egypt 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 Egypt?
Egypt rates as favourable for onion.
When should I plant onion in Egypt?
Typically 27 Dec 2026 to 21 May 2027, forecast-adjusted.
Is this exact for my own field?
No — these are readings taken across Egypt, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.
