Cowpea (Lobia)
Sow in July, harvest around October
This season's sowing time (June–July) is over.
No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop. Priced from mandis across India.
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 350 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 110 mm it can use in a normal year, and 70 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 25–35 °C on average, and survives 15–40 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jul 37 °C / 27 °C
- Aug 35 °C / 27 °C
- Sep 34 °C / 24 °C
- Oct 33 °C / 18 °C
Soil
Soil for Cowpea (Lobia): 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of phosphorus, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of manganese.
Likes pH 5.5–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 2.8 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).
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 ₹8,892 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹8,965 a quintal, the middle of 22 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹5,510 2021
- ₹5,430 2022
- ₹6,340 2023
- ₹7,030 2024
- ₹5,820 2025
Prices are usually best in November.
Typical costs are about ₹9,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.
How to make it work
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Short of manganese Your soil is likely short of manganese.
Spray manganese sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, on the young crop.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.