Cumin
Sow in November, harvest around March
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
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
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 430 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 0 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 160 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 31 °C / 17 °C
- Dec 30 °C / 15 °C
- Jan 31 °C / 15 °C
- Feb 34 °C / 18 °C
Soil
Soil for Cumin: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Salt in the soil here can harm it.
- 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.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 3.0 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 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).
- ₹11,940 2021
- ₹18,820 2022
- ₹40,000 2023
- ₹22,700 2024
- ₹18,340 2025
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.
How to make it work
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Short of nitrogen Your soil is likely short of nitrogen.
Add about a quarter more urea than the usual dose, in two or three splits. A pulse crop in rotation also adds nitrogen.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.