Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 10 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 10 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 1,460 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 970 mm it can use in a normal year, and 950 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 16–33 °C on average, and survives 7–39 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jun 32 °C / 25 °C
- Jul 33 °C / 26 °C
- Aug 33 °C / 26 °C
- Sep 33 °C / 25 °C
- Oct 32 °C / 22 °C
- Nov 29 °C / 17 °C
- Dec 26 °C / 12 °C
- Jan 24 °C / 11 °C
- Feb 27 °C / 13 °C
- Mar 29 °C / 17 °C
- Apr 31 °C / 20 °C
- May 32 °C / 23 °C
- Jun 32 °C / 25 °C
Soil
Soil for Arecanut: 8 out of 10 (good).
- Soil here is often more alkaline than it likes.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of boron.
Likes pH 5.5–6.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 3.2 quintals an acre here (district figures).
A new planting gives its first real harvest after about 6 years. The money here is for plants already bearing.
Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.
Mandi price at this season's harvest so far (October–November 2026): about ₹35,513 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹29,654 a quintal, the middle of 57 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹37,280 2021
- ₹40,000 2022
- ₹35,750 2023
- ₹29,400 2024
- ₹31,150 2025
Prices are usually best in August.
Typical costs are about ₹5.9 lakh an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.
How to make it work
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 2.6 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.