Groundnut
Sow in November, harvest around March
Sowing time is now.
No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop. Priced from mandis across India.
₹30,000–₹44,000
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹11,000 to a profit of ₹4,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 2 irrigations short
- Needs care: Cool in December
- Suits: Soil 8/10
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 300 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 200 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 22–32 °C on average, and survives 10–45 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Nov 28 °C / 17 °C
- Dec 25 °C / 14 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 24 °C / 12 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 27 °C / 14 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Groundnut: 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: sulphur.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of boron, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of phosphorus.
- Most fields here are short of zinc.
Likes pH 5.5–6.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 8.0 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).
On rain alone it gets about 71% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 71% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (March–April 2026): about ₹6,482 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹7,170 a quintal, the middle of 137 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹615 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹7,517 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹5,150 2021
- ₹5,500 2022
- ₹6,270 2023
- ₹5,680 2024
- ₹5,000 2025
Prices are usually best in November.
Typical costs are about ₹40,000 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
-
Short of phosphorus Your soil is likely short of phosphorus.
Add about a quarter more DAP or single super phosphate than the usual dose, at sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
Short of zinc Your soil is likely short of zinc.
Mix 10 kg of zinc sulphate per acre into the soil before sowing. One dose lasts two or three seasons.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.