Fennel

Water

Rain falls about 3 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.

Needs about 440 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 120 mm it can use in a normal year (40 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 200 mm from the monsoon at sowing.

Temperature

Grows best at 15–25 °C on average, and survives 6–32 °C.

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

• Oct 31 °C / 23 °C (outside its best range)
• Nov 28 °C / 17 °C
• Dec 25 °C / 14 °C
• Jan 24 °C / 12 °C
• Feb 27 °C / 14 °C
• Mar 31 °C / 18 °C

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Soil

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

Not in the score: sulphur.

• Soil here is often more acidic than it likes.
• Most fields here are short of phosphorus.
• Most fields here are short of zinc.
• Most fields here are short of boron.

Likes pH 6.5–7.5.

Money

Yield: about 6.6 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 ₹9,711 a quintal across India's mandis.

This week: about ₹11,100 a quintal, the middle of 6 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹21,000 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 ₹34,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.