Date Palm
Holds the land all year
No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop.
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 1,580 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 470 mm it can use in a normal year, and 380 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 26–45 °C on average, and survives 10–52 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jun 38 °C / 27 °C
- Jul 34 °C / 27 °C
- Aug 33 °C / 27 °C
- Sep 33 °C / 26 °C
- Oct 33 °C / 22 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 15 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 25 °C / 10 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 22 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 27 °C / 13 °C (outside its best range)
- Mar 33 °C / 18 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 39 °C / 23 °C
- May 41 °C / 27 °C
- Jun 38 °C / 27 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Date Palm: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of zinc, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of boron, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 6.5–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 31 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).
A new planting gives its first real harvest after about 5 years. The money here is for plants already bearing.
Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.
No mandi or support price for this crop yet.
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.
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Short of organic carbon Your soil is likely short of organic carbon.
Add 4 tonnes of compost or farmyard manure per acre before sowing, and plough crop leftovers back in instead of burning them.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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Short of sulphur Your soil is likely short of sulphur.
Use single super phosphate instead of DAP, or add about 100 kg of gypsum per acre before sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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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.