When to plant Onion in Settat Province

Casablanca Settat, Morocco

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.

Onion in Settat Province, rain-fed and with irrigation
Measure	Rain-fed	With irrigation
Fit	Favourable
When to plant	16 Dec 2026 – 5 Jan 2027 opens in 11 weeks	27 Dec 2025 – 18 Sep 2026
Expected harvest	about 13.8 t/ha	about 45.0 t/ha
Harvest	From 16 Mar 2027 to 5 May 2027, depending on the planting date
Ready to harvest	90–120 days after planting
Rain meets its needs	52%

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 16 Dec 2026. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.

This season's rainfall outlook for Settat Province is close to normal, so these dates match the pattern the area usually follows.

Planting after 5 Jan 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.

What decides this in Settat Province

Rain and temperature	96%
The soil	96%
The lie of the land	88%

For onion in Settat Province, the lie of the land is the tightest of the three at 88%. 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 Settat Province

When the rains are expected	October 2026 to April 2027
Rain in a typical year	About 352 mm
This season's rain	Rain close to usual — plan around about 352 mm falling roughly when it always does
This season's heat	Hotter than usual — about +1.4 °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 short crop, and only if timed to it, warm, with a cool spell that slows winter growth
Ground this covers	One kind of ground throughout.

last updated 17 September 2026

Limited water holds back about 50% 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 Settat Province

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

Frost riskPest/disease risk — manageableNot enough water in season

Grow Onion with a plan, not a guess

Everything above describes Settat Province 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.

Or check your field first

Onion in nearby districts

How to grow Onion, step by step Land preparation to harvest — every task, in order

Frequently asked questions

Will onion grow well in Settat Province?

Settat Province rates as favourable for onion.

When should I plant onion in Settat Province?

Typically 16 Dec 2026 to 5 Jan 2027, forecast-adjusted.

Is this exact for my own field?

No — these are readings taken across Settat Province, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.