Turnip
The turnip is an ancient cool-season root of the temperate world, grown for both its bulb and its greens and long a winter mainstay for people and livestock alike. Hardy and quick, it belts the cool temperate zone.
How it grows
Turnip is a root that swells below ground; only the leafy top shows above the soil.
What it’s worth to grow
Farm-gate value = the price farmers are paid per kilogram (FAOSTAT producer prices, median of 611 positive country-year observations spanning 2018–2024). It tracks how costly and labour-intensive a crop is to grow — almonds and vanilla command a premium; potatoes and cereals are cheap staples.
Where Earth's climate suits turnip
Climatic suitability only — scored for every 0.5° of the planet from this crop's temperature and rainfall tolerances (FAO EcoCrop) on AgroClim 1991–2025 normals (AgERA5 temperature, CHIRPS/ERA5 rainfall). It shows where the rain-fed climate permits the crop, not where it is grown today; irrigation lets many crops thrive in drier country than the map suggests (California, Egypt, the Indus and Nile).
Who grows it — and where the climate merely allows it
The climate where it grows
— mean monthly temperature ▍ monthly rainfall — averaged over the actual growing areas (the suitable cells) inside each country, so it reflects where the crop is really grown, not the national average. AgroClim 1991–2025 normals. The 🌧 badge is the last 3 months’ rainfall as a percentage of the 1991–2020 CHIRPS normal (through 2025-12) — the current drought/deluge signal.
Climate envelope · FAO EcoCrop
Deep bar = optimal range; pale bar = absolute tolerance. Beyond the pale bar the crop fails. Latitude tolerance ±40° · soil pH 5–7.5.
Growing calendar & hazards
Sown in spring or, for a winter store, in late summer; the roots sweeten after light autumn frosts and are lifted before the ground freezes hard.
- Heat. Summer heat makes the roots woody and strong-flavoured and triggers bolting.
- Drought. Dry spells check growth and split the swelling roots.
- Club root & flea beetle. Brassica pests and soil-borne club root cut stands.