Arecanut

Water

Rain falls about 9 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.

Needs about 1,400 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 980 mm it can use in a normal year, and 910 mm in a dry year.

Heavy rain here can waterlog it. Grow it on raised beds or land that drains well.

Temperature

Grows best at 16–33 °C on average, and survives 7–39 °C.

Here, in its growing months (day / night):

• Jun 31 °C / 25 °C
• Jul 31 °C / 26 °C
• Aug 32 °C / 26 °C
• Sep 32 °C / 26 °C
• Oct 31 °C / 23 °C
• Nov 29 °C / 18 °C
• Dec 26 °C / 14 °C
• Jan 24 °C / 12 °C
• Feb 28 °C / 14 °C
• Mar 31 °C / 19 °C
• Apr 32 °C / 22 °C
• May 32 °C / 24 °C
• Jun 31 °C / 25 °C

Soil

Soil for Arecanut: 6 out of 10 (okay).

• Soil here is often too alkaline for it.
• Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
• Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
• Most fields here are short of boron.

Likes pH 5.5–6.0.

Money

Yield: about 3.0 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.

On rain alone it gets about 70% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 70% of this yield.

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). At that price an acre would lose about ₹5.3 lakh a year at typical costs.

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.