Cowpea (Lobia)
Sow in June, harvest around September
This season's sowing time (June–July) is over.
Grown on 34 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹17,000–₹25,000
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹8,000–₹16,000 an acre a season
- Suits: Rain is enough
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain is enough in a normal year. Keep one irrigation ready for a dry year.
Needs about 330 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 340 mm it can use in a normal year, and 240 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):
- Jun 35 °C / 25 °C
- Jul 31 °C / 23 °C
- Aug 30 °C / 22 °C
- Sep 30 °C / 22 °C
Soil
Soil for Cowpea (Lobia): 9 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Low nitrogen matters less: it makes its own.
- Most fields here are short of zinc.
Likes pH 5.5–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 3.5 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (your district's own figure looked wrong).
Mandi price at last season's harvest (September–October 2026): about ₹6,010 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹8,965 a quintal, the middle of 22 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹22,000 a season after typical costs.
- ₹5,210 2021
- ₹5,140 2022
- ₹5,910 2023
- ₹7,300 2024
- ₹5,470 2025
Prices are usually best in January.
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 zinc Your soil is likely short of zinc.
Mix 10 kg of zinc sulphate per acre into the soil before sowing. One dose lasts two or three seasons.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.