Castor Seed
Sow in July, harvest around December
This season's sowing time (July–August) is over.
Grown on 15 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
₹9,000–₹14,000
per acre a season, before costs
Likely a loss at typical costs: ₹11,000–₹15,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 3 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 3 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 600 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 490 mm it can use in a normal year, and 330 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 20–30 °C on average, and survives 15–39 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jul 31 °C / 24 °C
- Aug 30 °C / 23 °C
- Sep 31 °C / 23 °C
- Oct 34 °C / 20 °C
- Nov 33 °C / 15 °C
- Dec 31 °C / 12 °C
Soil
Soil for Castor Seed: 9 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: salt.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of boron, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 6.0–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 2.2 quintals an acre here (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 81% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 81% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (December 2025–January 2026): about ₹6,218 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹7,560 a quintal, the middle of 9 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would lose about ₹10,000 a season at typical costs.
- ₹4,670 2021
- ₹6,580 2022
- ₹5,720 2023
- ₹5,530 2024
- ₹6,000 2025
Prices are usually best in November.
Typical costs are about ₹24,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.
How to make it work
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Urea 57%