Castor Seed
Sow in August, harvest around January
This season's sowing time (July–August) is over.
Grown on 4.1 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
₹30,000–₹45,000
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹6,000–₹20,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 3 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
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 560 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 450 mm it can use in a normal year, and 200 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):
- Aug 35 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Sep 34 °C / 25 °C
- Oct 33 °C / 24 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 23 °C
- Dec 29 °C / 22 °C
- Jan 30 °C / 22 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Castor Seed: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 7.5 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (your district's own figure looked wrong).
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 (January–February 2026): about ₹6,106 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 leave about ₹22,000 a season after 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
-
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.