When to plant Sweet pepper in Eritrea

Sweet pepper (bell pepper, capsicum) is a warm-season vegetable grown for its thick-walled, mild, juicy fruit — the kind you slice into relish, stew and salad.

Sweet pepper in Eritrea, rain-fed and with irrigation
Measure	Rain-fed	With irrigation
Fit	Favourable
When to plant	6 Jun 2027 – 26 Jun 2027 opens in 36 weeks	21 Jan 2026 – 1 Jan 2027
Expected harvest	about 13.7 t/ha	about 14.7 t/ha
Harvest	From 4 Oct 2027 to 23 Dec 2027, depending on the planting date
Ready to harvest	120–180 days after planting
Work it takes	100–210 days per hectare, by hand
Rain meets its needs	63%

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 6 Jun 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.

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

Planting after 26 Jun 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.

What decides this in Eritrea

Rain and temperature	96%
The soil	96%
The lie of the land	60%

For sweet pepper in Eritrea, the lie of the land is the tightest of the three at 60%. 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 season in Eritrea

Rainy seasons	One each year — one chance to plant, so timing carries it
When the rains are expected	June 2026 to September 2026
Rain in a typical year	About 408 mm in a typical farming district
Across its districts	From about 33 mm in the driest of 58 districts to about 656 mm in the wettest
Rainy seasons, district by district	Of 58 districts: one rainy season in 40 and two rainy seasons in 1
This season's rain	Rain close to usual — plan around about 408 mm falling roughly when it always does
This season's heat	Hotter than usual — about +1.8 °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 all year, so nothing but rain ends the season
Ground this covers	5 kinds of ground. The season below is one typical farming district's, not a figure for the whole of this area.

Agro-ecological zones covering this area
62%	too dry for rain-fed cropping without irrigation; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season no rain-fed season · about 190 mm · July to September
19%	enough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 91 growing days · about 450 mm · June to September
9%	enough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 86 growing days · about 570 mm · June to September
3%	too dry for rain-fed cropping without irrigation; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season no rain-fed season · about 170 mm
3%	too dry for rain-fed cropping without irrigation; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season no rain-fed season · about 340 mm · July to September

last updated 17 September 2026 · from all 58 areas within it

Limited water holds back about 40% of yield here.

What sweet pepper needs to grow here

Soil it likes	well-drained sandy loam or loam soil
Soil sourness (pH)	Happiest between pH 6.0 and 6.5
Spacing	60 cm between rows, 40 cm between plants
Feed it most with	potassium, nitrogen and calcium

What it takes to grow sweet pepper in Eritrea

Planting material	About 38,000 plants per hectare
Nitrogen (N)	About 27 kg per hectare
Phosphate (P₂O₅)	About 8 kg per hectare
Potash (K₂O)	About 48 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.
Hand work	100–210 days per hectare, by hand

These are the nutrients a sweet pepper 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

Pest/disease risk — manageableNot enough water in seasonSoil pH outside the crop's range

Grow Sweet pepper with a plan, not a guess

Everything above describes Eritrea 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

Sweet pepper in nearby districts

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

Frequently asked questions

Will sweet pepper grow well in Eritrea?

Eritrea rates as favourable for sweet pepper.

When should I plant sweet pepper in Eritrea?

Typically 6 Jun 2027 to 26 Jun 2027, forecast-adjusted.

Is this exact for my own field?

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