Gram (Chana)

A winter crop. Sow in Oct–Nov, harvest in Feb–Mar.

Check it on your land
Season
Rabi
JJASONDJFMAM
91% of its area.
Ready in
110 days
about 3½ months
Water
270–360 mm
over its season
Temperature
15–29 °C
0° survives 7–35 °C 40°

When to sow and harvest

Rabi 91% of its area
Today: rabi sowing time
J J A S O N D J F M A M
Sow Growing Harvest
The year starts in June, with the monsoon. Your district can shift a few weeks.

Will it grow on your land?

Water
Season

Pick your place and water to see:

  • Whether Gram (Chana) suits your land Good fit, possible or won't work, with the reasons.
  • What it could earn an acre From yields near you and mandi prices.
  • Water and fertiliser it needs Irrigations for your water, and bags for one acre.

What it needs

Temperature

15–29 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 7–35 °C.

Water

270–360 mm over its season

Rain and irrigation together, worked out where most of it grows:

Latur Churu Buldhana Nanded Dharashiv

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes neutral soil. Grows from pH 4.7 to 9.5.

Soil

  • Takes a little salt
  • Ordinary farm soil is fine
  • N Makes its own nitrogen
  • P Needs plenty of phosphorus and sulphur
How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°).

Fertiliser for one acre

Draft: check with your KVK
Urea nitrogen
4 kg half a bag of 45 kg
DAP phosphate
35 kg half a bag of 50 kg
MOP potash
13 kg half a bag of 50 kg

Sulphur 20 kg/ha

Give the DAP and MOP at sowing, and the urea in two or three doses. If your soil card says a nutrient is low, add about a quarter more of it.

Watch out for

Draft: check with your KVK
  • Pod borer
    Pest

    Look for

    Holes in pods with green caterpillars half inside.

    What to do first

    Put up bird perches and pheromone traps; spray neem or NPV early. Use a chemical spray only when caterpillars are many. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.

  • Wilt
    Disease

    Look for

    Plants droop and dry in patches; brown streaks inside the stem.

    What to do first

    Grow a wilt-resistant variety, treat seed with Trichoderma and don't grow gram in the same field every year.

  • Dry root rot
    Disease

    Look for

    Plants dry suddenly at flowering; roots turn black and brittle.

    What to do first

    Sow on time and avoid water stress at flowering; treat seed with Trichoderma.

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
September, ₹5,506
Lowest
June, ₹4,781
₹4,781
₹5,506
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis.

Government minimum support price (MSP): ₹5,958 a quintal for 2027-28.

Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
90,35,556 ha
2024-25
Average yield
1.2 t/ha
2024-25
Most area
Latur
Maharashtra
Best yield
Mainpuri
2.4 t/ha

Where it grows most

The districts with the most area in recent years. The map colours every district growing it on at least 100 ha by yield; the numbers mark these districts.

19% of India's gram (chana) area is in these 10 districts

  1. 1 Latur Maharashtra 2.7% 2,71,809 ha
  2. 2 Churu Rajasthan 2.4% 2,44,866 ha
  3. 3 Buldhana Maharashtra 2.2% 2,23,652 ha
  4. 4 Nanded Maharashtra 2.2% 2,17,182 ha
  5. 5 Dharashiv Maharashtra 2.1% 2,13,030 ha
  6. 6 Ajmer Rajasthan 1.6% 1,59,193 ha
  7. 7 Bikaner Rajasthan 1.6% 1,56,420 ha
  8. 8 Hanumangarh Rajasthan 1.6% 1,55,721 ha
  9. 9 Jaisalmer Rajasthan 1.5% 1,49,672 ha
  10. 10 Hingoli Maharashtra 1.4% 1,35,304 ha

Gram (Chana) yield

  1. 0.4–0.8 t/ha
  2. 0.8–1.1 t/ha
  3. 1.1–1.3 t/ha
  4. 1.3–1.6 t/ha
  5. 1.6–2.4 t/ha
No data

1 Numbers match the list: the districts with the most area.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 1999-00 to 2024-25.

Where yields are highest

Districts growing it on at least 100 ha, against the average across India. The line runs from India's average to each district.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 1999-00 to 2024-25.

Across India over the years

Yield (t/ha)

0.0 0.6 1.3
1999-00 2024-25
Latest 1.2 t/ha in 2024-25

Area (ha)

0.0 5.4M 10.8M
1999-00 2024-25
Latest 90,35,556 ha in 2024-25

Only years in which most of the usual districts reported are shown.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 1999-00 to 2024-25.

Soil and yield

How district soil tests line up with this crop's yields across India.

Gram (Chana) yields tend to be higher in districts with

  • More soil that is neutral weak 408 districts

Gram (Chana) yields tend to be lower in districts with

  • More soil that is acidic weak 408 districts

A pattern is not proof that soil causes the difference.

Source: Soil Health Card – soil nutrient analysis (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).