Gram (Chana)
Sow in November, harvest around March
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 66 acres here. Sold at 2 mandis in your district.
₹24,000–₹35,000
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹5,000–₹17,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 1 irrigation short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 1 irrigation (5 cm) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 240 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 20 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 180 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 15–29 °C on average, and survives 7–35 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Nov 27 °C / 12 °C
- Dec 23 °C / 8 °C
- Jan 20 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 25 °C / 11 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Gram (Chana): 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Low nitrogen matters less: it makes its own.
- Many fields here are short of phosphorus, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–8.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 5.2 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (your district's own figure looked wrong).
On rain alone it gets about 82% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 82% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (March–April 2026): about ₹6,883 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹7,000 a quintal, the middle of 283 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹11,000 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹5,958 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
Prices are usually best in May.
Typical costs are about ₹19,000 an acre (seed, fertiliser, labour and hired machines, from the government's cost survey). They are spent whatever the harvest.
How to make it work
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 5.6 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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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.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 26%
- Urea 17%