Gram (Chana)
Sow in October, harvest around February
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 2.4 lakh acres here. Sold at 10 mandis in your district.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 4 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 4 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 280 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 110 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):
- Oct 34 °C / 20 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 14 °C
- Dec 25 °C / 9 °C
- Jan 23 °C / 9 °C
Soil
Soil for Gram (Chana): 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: sulphur.
- 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.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–8.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 5.4 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
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 (February–March 2026): about ₹5,374 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹7,000 a quintal, the middle of 283 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).
Minimum support price: ₹5,958 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹4,910 2021
- ₹4,720 2022
- ₹5,340 2023
- ₹6,330 2024
- ₹5,840 2025
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 5.8 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) 52%
- Urea 13%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 4%