Betel Leaves

Water

Rain falls about 7 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.

Needs about 1,300 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 990 mm it can use in a normal year, and 930 mm in a dry year.

Temperature

Grows best at 22–27 °C on average, and survives 17–31 °C.

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

• Jun 29 °C / 22 °C
• Jul 29 °C / 23 °C
• Aug 30 °C / 23 °C
• Sep 29 °C / 22 °C
• Oct 28 °C / 19 °C
• Nov 24 °C / 13 °C (outside its best range)
• Dec 21 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 20 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
• Feb 20 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
• Mar 24 °C / 12 °C (outside its best range)
• Apr 25 °C / 16 °C (outside its best range)
• May 28 °C / 20 °C
• Jun 29 °C / 22 °C

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Nights in January can bring frost. When frost is forecast, water the field lightly in the evening.

Soil

Soil for Betel Leaves: 7 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 manganese.

Likes pH 5.0–5.6.

Money

Yield: about 87 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).

On rain alone it gets about 76% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 76% of this yield.

Mandi price through the year (December 2025–November 2026): about ₹15,000 a quintal across India's mandis.

This week: about ₹7,750 a quintal, the middle of 6 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would lose about ₹48,000 a year at typical costs.

Prices are usually best in March.

Typical costs are about ₹5.6 lakh an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.