Orange Season in India: Month-by-Month Fruit Calendar

Every December my kitchen counter fills up with Nagpur oranges. They are sweeter, cheaper, and juicier than at any other time of year. That is the magic of eating with the calendar. If you have ever wondered about the orange season in india, or which fruit to buy in any month, this guide makes it simple. I made a chart for each month. It shows what is fresh. It shows what is cheap. It shows what is good for juicing right now.

India grows many types of fruit all year long. You just need to know the timing. Below you will find the orange window first. Then you will find a full calendar. Then you will find the best picks for winter. You will also find picks for summer and monsoon.

When Is Orange Season in India?

So if you want the juiciest, lowest-priced oranges, shop between December and February. This is when Nagpur mandarins flood the markets across India. Kinnow oranges from Punjab also arrive in this same winter window. So you get plenty of choice.

Where these dates come from: India's orange harvest runs mainly from October to April. This is a broad national window across growing regions, and it is our guide, not one official figure. The National Horticulture Board (NHB) says the Nagpur mrig crop matures in February and March. Punjab Agricultural University says the best time to pick Kinnow is mid-January to mid-February.

A fresh orange is not just tasty. It is one of the easiest ways to hit your daily vitamin C. We will come back to why seasonal fruit beats off-season fruit later in this guide.

Nagpur Orange Season: Ambia and Mrig Crops

Nagpur orange season has two parts, because Nagpur farms take two crops a year. The ambia crop reaches markets in late autumn and early winter. The mrig crop comes in February and March. So you can buy fresh Nagpur oranges for much of the winter and early spring.

Here is how the two crops work. The NHB says mandarin trees in central India flower in February (ambe or ambia bahar) and in June (mrig bahar). The NHB's citrus harvesting note says mandarins take 9 to 10 months to ripen. So the February flowers give the ambia fruit near the end of the year. The June flowers give the mrig fruit, which the NHB says matures in February and March.

The Central Citrus Research Institute (ICAR-CCRI) in Nagpur backs this up. On 16 February 2024, it said the harvest and export season of mrig bahar Nagpur mandarins was going on in Vidarbha (ICAR news, 2024).

Kinnow season: Kinnow is Punjab's main orange. Punjab Agricultural University says the best time to pick it is mid-January to mid-February. That is why Kinnow fills north Indian markets in the middle of winter.

संतरे का मौसम कब आता है? (Orange Ka Season Kab Aata Hai)

संतरे का मौसम: भारत में संतरे का मौसम अक्टूबर से अप्रैल तक चलता है। सबसे अच्छे और सस्ते संतरे दिसंबर, जनवरी और फरवरी में मिलते हैं। नागपुर संतरे की दो फसलें होती हैं। अंबिया फसल सर्दी की शुरुआत में आती है, और मृग फसल फरवरी-मार्च में आती है।

Hinglish: Orange ya santra ka season kab aata hai? Bharat mein santre ka season October se April tak chalta hai. Sabse meethe aur saste santre December, January aur February mein milte hain. Nagpur santre ki ambia fasal sardi ki shuruaat mein aati hai, aur mrig fasal February-March mein aati hai.

In English: orange season in India runs from October to April. The sweetest and cheapest oranges come in December, January and February. Nagpur's ambia crop comes in early winter, and the mrig crop in February and March. Orange has many names in India. The IFCT 2017 food table lists santra (Hindi), santre (Marathi), kamala lebu (Bengali), kamala (Odia) and madhura naranga (Malayalam).

Orange Season in Kerala and South India

Kerala grows only a little orange. The NHB lists the Wayanad (Wynad), Nilgiri, Palani and Shevaroy hills as the main mandarin belts of South India, along with Coorg in Karnataka. We could not find an official month-by-month harvest chart for Kerala. So use the national October to April window as your guide, and look for the best prices from December to February.

Month-by-Month Fruit Calendar for India

Here is the simple version. Use this table to plan your fruit shopping for any month of the year. Months show the main season when each fruit is fresh, cheap, and at peak taste. Dates for mango, grapes, litchi, apple, guava, pomegranate, banana and papaya follow the peak harvest months on APEDA's Farmer Connect crop pages. Dates change by state and by year.

Grape harvest: In Maharashtra, India's grape hub, the peak harvest runs from March to May. India shipped 267,950 tonnes of grapes abroad in 2022-23 — APEDA Farmer Connect.

For citrus like oranges and sweet lime, an electric citrus juicer turns a kilo of winter oranges into fresh juice in minutes. A blender works better for soft fruit. Soft fruit includes mango, banana, or watermelon.

When Is Mosambi (Sweet Lime) Season?

Mosambi season in India starts in autumn, from about October, and Maharashtra farms take two crops a year. In Indian markets, mosambi is sold as sweet lime. The NHB's citrus varieties list names Mosambi as a sweet orange variety grown in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

Maharashtra farmers grow mosambi in two crops, called ambia bahar and mrig bahar, just like Nagpur oranges. Researchers from Marathwada surveyed ambia-crop mosambi fruit in October and November 2012 (Asian Journal of Horticulture, 2014). NABARD's page on the GI-tagged Jalna sweet orange says sweet oranges need nine to twelve months to ripen. So the mrig crop, which flowers in June, ripens the next year, after the winter. We found no official month-by-month chart for mosambi, so treat these dates as a guide.

Mosambi makes a mild, sweet juice. For ideas, see our seasonal citrus guide: what to juice each month and our look at mosambi juice benefits.

Which Fruits Are Best in Each Season?

Winter fruits (December to February)

This is citrus time. Oranges, sweet lime, and Kinnow are everywhere. Add fresh guava and amla. The first grapes also start to come in. Winter is the best season for fresh-squeezed juice. You can make it at home. Citrus is cheap and sweet now.

Summer fruits (March to June)

Mango is the star. India is the world's largest mango producer. May and June bring dozens of varieties at good prices. Pair mango with watermelon, muskmelon, and litchi. This helps you stay cool and hydrated.

Mango scale: India is the world's largest producer of mangoes, guavas and mangosteens, which are counted as one group. It grew nearly 44% of world output in 2020-21. India grew over 207 lakh tonnes (about 20.7 million tonnes) of mango in 2022-23, as a first advance estimate. The Agriculture Minister gave these figures in the Lok Sabha in August 2023 (All India Radio News).

Monsoon and post-monsoon (July to November)

Now pomegranate, pears, plums, and custard apple shine. Bananas and papaya keep going all year. If you want the full monsoon list, see our guide on the 10 best monsoon fruits in India.

Why Eat Fruits That Are in Season?

Think about price first. Oranges flood the market in December. They cost much less than in May. The same goes for mango in summer. Buying in season stretches your grocery budget.

Taste is the second reason. A peak-season Alphonso in May beats a cold-stored mango in November every time. Fruit picked ripe and eaten soon tastes better. It tastes more like itself.

Vitamin C in oranges: A 100-gram raw orange gives about 53.2 mg of vitamin C. That is roughly 59% of the US daily value of 90 mg. This comes from USDA FoodData Central (FDC ID 169097, oranges, raw, all commercial varieties). India's own food table gives a lower figure. IFCT 2017 (food code E047, orange pulp) lists 42.72 mg of vitamin C per 100 g, tested across six regions. ICMR-NIN sets the daily need at 80 mg for men and 65 mg for women (RDA 2020). So 100 g of orange covers about half to two-thirds of an adult's daily need by the Indian figure, and more by the USDA figure.

There is also plenty to choose from. India grew 112.73 million tonnes of fruit in 2023-24. So local fruit in season is always nearby. This comes from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, in its third advance estimates for 2023-24 (PIB, September 2024).

How to Get the Most From Seasonal Fruit at Home

Here is the routine I follow through the year:

1. Buy when it peaks — stock up on oranges in winter and mango in summer, when prices are lowest.
2. Juice citrus the same week — oranges and sweet lime are best squeezed fresh, not stored for long.
3. Blend the soft fruit — mango, banana, and papaya turn into quick shakes and smoothies.
4. Store smart — keep cut fruit cold and eat it within two days to avoid waste.
5. Drink it fresh — homemade juice tastes best within 24 hours, before it loses its punch.

For winter citrus, a good electric citrus juicer pays for itself fast. A kilo of Nagpur oranges makes a big jug of fresh juice. It has no added sugar. Should you juice or blend? Our guide on portable blender vs juicer breaks down fibre and nutrition.

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