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?

North East Delhi
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.

No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop. Priced from mandis across India.

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

  • Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
  • Suits: Ideal temperatures
  • Not known: No soil data
Why, and how to make it work

Water

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

Needs about 310 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 10 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 10 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 / 13 °C (outside its best range)
  • Dec 23 °C / 9 °C
  • Jan 21 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
  • Feb 25 °C / 11 °C
  • Mar 31 °C / 16 °C (outside its best range)

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Soil

Likes pH 6.5–8.5. We have no pH figures for this place.

Money

Yield: about 12 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).

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 ₹2,112 a quintal across India's mandis.

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. ₹1,650 2021
  2. ₹2,500 2022
  3. ₹1,890 2023
  4. ₹2,130 2024
  5. ₹2,300 2025

Prices are usually best in November.

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.

See every crop that suits North East

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 North East 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).