Gram (Chana)
Sow in October, harvest around February
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 1,074 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹20,000–₹29,000
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹1,000–₹11,000 an acre a season
- Suits: Rain is enough
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain is enough in a normal year. Keep one irrigation ready for a dry year.
Needs about 340 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 130 mm it can use in a normal year (90 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 31 °C / 24 °C
- Nov 32 °C / 23 °C
- Dec 32 °C / 22 °C
- Jan 32 °C / 22 °C
Soil
Soil for Gram (Chana): 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen.
- Soil here is often more acidic than it likes.
- Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 6.0–8.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 3.0 quintals an acre here (district figures).
Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹8,300 a quintal across mandis in your state.
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 ₹2,000 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹5,958 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹6,840 2021
- ₹6,650 2022
- ₹6,500 2023
- ₹8,100 2024
- ₹8,330 2025
Prices are usually best in December.
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
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Short of sulphur Your soil is likely short of sulphur.
Use single super phosphate instead of DAP, or add about 100 kg of gypsum per acre before sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.