Gram (Chana)
Sow in November, harvest around March
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 29 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 270 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 10 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 20 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 29 °C / 12 °C
- Dec 23 °C / 8 °C
- Jan 20 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 24 °C / 9 °C
- Mar 31 °C / 15 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Gram (Chana): 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of potassium.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–8.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 4.5 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (your district's own figure looked wrong).
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 (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).
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 7.1 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of potassium Your soil is likely short of potassium.
Add about a quarter more potash (MOP) than the usual dose.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.