Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 1,520 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 400 mm it can use in a normal year, and 360 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 23–33 °C on average, and survives 12–42 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jun 37 °C / 27 °C
- Jul 33 °C / 26 °C
- Aug 33 °C / 26 °C
- Sep 33 °C / 25 °C
- Oct 32 °C / 21 °C
- Nov 29 °C / 14 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 24 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 22 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 26 °C / 11 °C (outside its best range)
- Mar 32 °C / 16 °C
- Apr 38 °C / 22 °C
- May 39 °C / 25 °C
- Jun 37 °C / 27 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Banana: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of zinc, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of boron, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 5.5–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 180 quintals an acre here (district figures).
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 through the year (February 2025–January 2026): about ₹2,671 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹2,000 a quintal, the middle of 3 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹2,710 2023
- ₹2,480 2024
- ₹2,670 2025
Prices are usually best in March.
Typical costs are about ₹2.1 lakh an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), 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 188 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of nitrogen Your soil is likely short of nitrogen.
Add about a quarter more urea than the usual dose, in two or three splits. A pulse crop in rotation also adds nitrogen.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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Short of organic carbon Your soil is likely short of organic carbon.
Add 4 tonnes of compost or farmyard manure per acre before sowing, and plough crop leftovers back in instead of burning them.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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Short of zinc Your soil is likely short of zinc.
Mix 10 kg of zinc sulphate per acre into the soil before sowing. One dose lasts two or three seasons.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.