Cowpea (Lobia)

Water

Rain falls about 2 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.

Needs about 290 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 40 mm it can use in a normal year (20 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 190 mm from the monsoon at sowing.

Temperature

Grows best at 25–35 °C on average, and survives 15–40 °C.

Here, in its growing months (day / night):

• Oct 33 °C / 23 °C
• Nov 31 °C / 19 °C
• Dec 30 °C / 16 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 31 °C / 17 °C (outside its best range)

Months in orange are outside its best range.

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 organic carbon.
• Most fields here are short of boron.

Likes pH 5.5–7.5.

Money

Yield: about 2.6 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).

On rain alone it gets about 78% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 78% of this yield.

Mandi price at last season's harvest (January–February 2026): about ₹6,523 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 ₹8,000 a season after typical costs.

Prices are usually best in January.

Typical costs are about ₹10,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.