Cotton
Sow in April, harvest around October
This season's sowing time (April–May) is over.
Grown on 5.1 lakh acres here. Sold at 14 mandis in your district.
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 950 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 120 mm it can use in a normal year, and 70 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 22–36 °C on average, and survives 15–42 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Apr 38 °C / 20 °C
- May 42 °C / 26 °C
- Jun 41 °C / 28 °C
- Jul 38 °C / 28 °C
- Aug 37 °C / 27 °C
- Sep 36 °C / 25 °C
Soil
Soil for Cotton: 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen, potassium and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 6.3 quintals of kapas (raw cotton) 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 this season's harvest so far (October–November 2026): about ₹8,728 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹8,811 a quintal, the middle of 7 mandis in your district (latest 13 Nov).
Minimum support price: ₹8,267 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
That is the price for medium staple kapas (raw cotton). Long staple kapas has ₹8,667 a quintal.
- ₹6,450 2021
- ₹9,850 2022
- ₹7,240 2023
- ₹6,550 2024
- ₹7,200 2025
Prices are usually best in October.
Typical costs are about ₹28,000 an acre (seed, fertiliser, labour and hired machines, from the government's cost survey). 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):
- Urea 99%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 98%
- Zinc Sulphate Heptahydrate / Monohydrate 11%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 10%