Cumin

Water

Rain is enough in a normal year. Keep one irrigation ready for a dry year.

Needs about 220 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 30 mm it can use in a normal year (10 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 190 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 21 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
• Dec 17 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 16 °C / 5 °C (outside its best range)
• Feb 19 °C / 7 °C (outside its best range)

Nights in December can bring frost while the plants are young. Sow a little later, or cover the seedlings on cold nights.

Soil

Soil for Cumin: 8 out of 10 (good).

• The pH here suits it.
• Many fields here are short of sulphur, 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).

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 ₹42,000 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.