Bitter Gourd
Sow in June, harvest around October
This season's sowing time (June–July) is over.
No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop. Sold at 5 mandis in your district.
₹1.7 lakh–₹2.6 lakh
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹1.1 lakh–₹2.0 lakh an acre a season
- Suits: Rain is enough
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain is enough, even in a dry year.
Needs about 400 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 810 mm it can use in a normal year, and 700 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 22–30 °C on average, and survives 15–38 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jun 32 °C / 25 °C
- Jul 32 °C / 25 °C
- Aug 32 °C / 25 °C
- Sep 32 °C / 25 °C
Soil
Soil for Bitter Gourd: 8 out of 10 (good).
- Soil here is often more acidic than it likes.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–6.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 40 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (its government crop records list none for your district).
Mandi price at this season's harvest so far (October–November 2026): about ₹5,450 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹6,700 a quintal, the middle of 14 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹2.0 lakh a season after typical costs.
Prices are usually best in November.
Typical costs are about ₹66,000 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
-
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.
-
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.