Cumin

Water

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

Needs about 300 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 20 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 200 mm from the monsoon at sowing.

Temperature

Grows best at 17–26 °C on average, and survives 9–30 °C.

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

• Nov 24 °C / 14 °C
• Dec 22 °C / 11 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 22 °C / 10 °C (outside its best range)
• Feb 24 °C / 11 °C

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Soil

Soil for Cumin: 6 out of 10 (okay).

Not in the score: salt, sulphur, zinc and 4 more.

• Soil here is often more acidic than it likes.
• Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
• Most fields here are short of nitrogen.

Likes pH 6.8–8.3.

Money

Yield: about 3.0 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).

On rain alone it gets about 74% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 74% of this yield.

Mandi price at last season's harvest (March–April 2026): about ₹19,375 a quintal across India's mandis.

This week: about ₹25,000 a quintal, the middle of 15 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹23,000 a season after typical costs.

Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.

Prices are usually best in November.

Typical costs are about ₹33,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.