Castor Seed
Sow in July, harvest around December
This season's sowing time (July–August) is over.
Grown on 320 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 610 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 200 mm it can use in a normal year, and 150 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 35 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Aug 32 °C / 25 °C
- Sep 34 °C / 24 °C
- Oct 35 °C / 19 °C
- Nov 31 °C / 13 °C
- Dec 27 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Castor Seed: 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 3.8 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
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–January 2026): about ₹6,149 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹7,560 a quintal, the middle of 9 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹4,990 2021
- ₹6,500 2022
- ₹5,750 2023
- ₹5,550 2024
- ₹5,880 2025
Prices are usually best in December.
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 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.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 100%
- Urea 100%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 13%