Gram (Chana)
Sow in November, harvest around March
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 25,643 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹14,000–₹21,000
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹4,000 to a profit of ₹3,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 6 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 6 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 0 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 0 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 30 °C / 11 °C
- Dec 24 °C / 7 °C
- Jan 20 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 25 °C / 9 °C
- Mar 31 °C / 15 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Gram (Chana): 9 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of iron.
Likes pH 6.0–8.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 3.5 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
Mandi price at last season's harvest (March–April 2026): about ₹5,135 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 ₹6,000 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹5,958 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹4,900 2023
- ₹6,860 2024
- ₹5,520 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 5.6 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
-
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.
-
Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
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):
- Urea 86%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 48%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 38%
- Zinc Sulphate Heptahydrate / Monohydrate 7%