Gram (Chana)
Sow in October, harvest around February
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 8,020 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
₹16,000–₹24,000
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹3,000 to a profit of ₹5,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 2 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 2 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 270 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 30 mm it can use in a normal year (10 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 190 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 31 °C / 22 °C
- Nov 29 °C / 16 °C
- Dec 26 °C / 12 °C
- Jan 25 °C / 11 °C
Soil
Soil for Gram (Chana): 9 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Low nitrogen matters less: it makes its own.
- Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of manganese.
- Most fields here are short of boron.
Likes pH 6.0–8.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 4.9 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 78% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 78% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹5,171 a quintal across India's mandis.
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 ₹8,000 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹5,958 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹4,710 2021
- ₹4,510 2022
- ₹4,790 2023
- ₹6,300 2024
- ₹5,530 2025
Prices are usually best in November.
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 4.8 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of manganese Your soil is likely short of manganese.
Spray manganese sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, on the young crop.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
-
Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
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):
- NPK Mixture 100%