Barley

A winter crop. Sow in Nov, harvest in Mar.

Check it on your land
Season
Rabi
JJASONDJFMAM

Sowing Growing Harvest

100% of its area.
Ready in
125 days
about 4 months
Water
330–370 mm
of water over its season (rain plus irrigation)
Grows best at
15–20 °C
0 °C survives 2–40 °C 40 °C

When to sow and harvest

Rabi 100% of its area
Today: rabi sowing time
J J A S O N D J F M A M
Sow Growing Harvest
The year starts in June, with the monsoon. Your district can shift a few weeks.

Sowing Growing Harvest

Will it grow on your land?

Hisar Haryana
Water
Season

Won't work: too dry without irrigation

Barley

JJASONDJFMAM

Sow in November, harvest around March

Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.

Grown on 6,282 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.

Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on

  • Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
  • Suits: Ideal temperatures
  • Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work

Water

Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.

Needs about 330 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 0 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 0 mm from the monsoon at sowing.

Temperature

Grows best at 15–20 °C on average, and survives 2–40 °C.

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

  • Nov 28 °C / 12 °C
  • Dec 23 °C / 7 °C
  • Jan 19 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
  • Feb 24 °C / 9 °C
  • Mar 30 °C / 15 °C (outside its best range)

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Soil

Soil for Barley: 8 out of 10 (good).

Not in the score: nitrogen.

  • The pH here suits it.
  • Many fields here are short of zinc, which it needs a lot.
  • Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
  • Most fields here are short of boron.

Likes pH 6.5–8.5.

How the soil score works

Money

Yield: about 14 quintals an acre here in this season (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 at last season's harvest (March–April 2026): about ₹2,081 a quintal across mandis in your state.

This week: about ₹2,776 a quintal, the middle of 25 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).

Minimum support price: ₹2,286 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.

Average mandi price each year (₹ a quintal):
  1. ₹1,720 2023
  2. ₹2,110 2025

Prices are usually best in May.

Typical costs are about ₹18,000 an acre (seed, fertiliser, labour and hired machines, from the government's cost survey). They are spent whatever the harvest.

How to make it work

The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 15 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

See every crop that suits Hisar

What it needs

Temperature

15–20 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 2–40 °C.

Water

330–370 mm over its season

Rain and irrigation together, worked out where most of it grows:

Ganganagar Jaipur Sikar Bhilwara Ajmer

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes neutral soil. Grows from pH 6 to 9.3.

Soil

  • Copes with salty soil
  • Ordinary farm soil is fine
  • N Needs plenty of nitrogen and zinc
How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); ICAR-IIWBR and CSSRI; FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°); TerraClimate 1991–2020 temperature normals (about 4 km), where each district's villages are.

Fertiliser for one acre

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra for the dose.

Watch out for

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to watch for.

What an acre earns

At India's average yield and a recent price, named below. Your land, water and mandi will differ.

Left an acre, a season

₹7,300

Yield India's average
12.4 quintals an acre
× Price harvest price last season (Mar 2026)
₹2,041 a quintal
= Income
₹25,300
− Costs seed, fertiliser, labour and machines, as the government costs them
−₹18,000
= Left
₹7,300

This week barley sells at about ₹2,776 a quintal: India's middle price at 25 mandis, latest 13 Nov. At that price an acre would leave about ₹16,500 a season.

Sold at the support price (MSP, ₹2,286 a quintal) to government procurement, an acre would leave about ₹10,400 a season. Procurement isn't open everywhere: ask at your mandi or agriculture office.

A good year or field earns about a fifth more, a poor one a fifth less: ₹20,300 to ₹30,400 income an acre. Costs stay the same either way.

Work it out for your land

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
November, ₹2,810 a quintal
Lowest
March, ₹2,041 a quintal
₹2,041
₹2,810
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis: each month's latest price (Dec 2025–Nov 2026).

Government minimum support price (MSP): ₹2,286 a quintal for 2027-28. Every crop's MSP

Latest prices near Hisar Today's price across India

Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
14.9 lakh acres
2024-25
Average yield
12.4 quintals an acre (3.1 tonnes a hectare)
recent years, to 2024-25
Most area
Ganganagar
Rajasthan
Best yield
Ganganagar
18 quintals an acre

Where it grows most

The districts with the most area in recent years. The map colours every district growing it on at least 100 ha by yield; the numbers mark these districts.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2020-21 to 2024-25.

Where yields are highest

Districts growing it on at least 100 ha, against the average across India. The line runs from India's average to each district.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2020-21 to 2024-25.

Across India over the years

Yield across India, quintals an acre

0 5 q 10 q 15 q
1997-98 2024-25
Latest 13 quintals an acre in 2024-25

Area sown across India, acres

0 10 lakh 20 lakh 30 lakh
1997-98 2024-25
Latest 14.9 lakh acres in 2024-25

Years run July to June. Only years in which most of the usual districts reported are shown.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 1997-98 to 2024-25.

Soil and yield

How district soil tests line up with this crop's yields across India.

Barley yields tend to be higher in districts with

  • More soil that is alkaline moderate 207 districts

Barley yields tend to be lower in districts with

  • More soil that is acidic moderate 207 districts

A pattern is not proof that soil causes the difference.

Source: Soil Health Card – soil nutrient analysis (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).