Black Pepper

Water

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

Needs about 1,530 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 780 mm it can use in a normal year, and 660 mm in a dry year.

Temperature

Grows best at 22–35 °C on average, and survives 10–40 °C.

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

• Jun 31 °C / 23 °C
• Jul 27 °C / 21 °C
• Aug 27 °C / 21 °C
• Sep 28 °C / 21 °C
• Oct 27 °C / 20 °C
• Nov 26 °C / 16 °C (outside its best range)
• Dec 25 °C / 13 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 26 °C / 13 °C (outside its best range)
• Feb 29 °C / 15 °C (outside its best range)
• Mar 31 °C / 19 °C
• Apr 33 °C / 21 °C
• May 34 °C / 23 °C
• Jun 31 °C / 23 °C

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Soil

Soil for Black Pepper: 8 out of 10 (good).

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

Likes pH 6.0–7.0.

Money

Yield: about 2.5 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).

A new planting gives its first real harvest after about 3 years. The money here is for plants already bearing.

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 (December 2025–March 2026): about ₹65,872 a quintal across India's mandis.

This week: about ₹68,511 a quintal, the middle of 33 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).

Prices are usually best in November.

Typical costs are about ₹65,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.