Gram (Chana)
Sow in October, harvest around February
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 23,062 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹16,000–₹23,000
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 290 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 20 mm it can use in a normal year (10 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 200 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 30 °C / 17 °C
- Nov 28 °C / 12 °C
- Dec 26 °C / 9 °C
- Jan 25 °C / 9 °C
Soil
Soil for Gram (Chana): 9 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Low nitrogen matters less: it makes its own.
- Most fields here are short of boron.
Likes pH 6.0–8.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 3.7 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹5,175 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹7,000 a quintal, the middle of 122 mandis in your state (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.
- ₹4,580 2021
- ₹4,390 2022
- ₹4,700 2023
- ₹5,460 2025
Prices are usually best in October.
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 5.2 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
-
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):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 39%
- Urea 29%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 10%
- Zinc Sulphate Heptahydrate / Monohydrate 4%