Groundnut

A monsoon crop. Sow in Jun–Jul, harvest in Oct–Nov.

Check it on your land

Season

Kharif

JJASONDJFMAM

Sowing Growing Harvest

85% of its area. Also grown in rabi, summer.

Ready in

110 days

about 3½ months

Water

360–570 mm

of water over its season (rain plus irrigation)

Grows best at

22–32 °C

0 °C survives 10–45 °C 40 °C

When to sow and harvest

Kharif 85% of its area

Rabi 8% of its area

Summer 7% of its area

Today: kharif harvest

Sow Harvest

Sow

JJun JJul AAug SSep OOct NNov DDec JJan FFeb MMar AApr MMay

Sow Growing Harvest

The year starts in June, with the monsoon. Your district can shift a few weeks.

Sowing Growing Harvest

Will it grow on your land?

Chennai Tamil Nadu

We can't judge it in Chennai yet: no rain and temperature records.

Groundnut

JJASONDJFMAM

Sow in June, harvest around October

This season's sowing time (June–July) is over.

Grown on 2.5 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.

₹57,000–₹86,000

per acre a season, before costs

After typical costs: ₹17,000–₹46,000 an acre a season

Not known: No rain data
Suits: Ideal temperatures
Not known: No soil data

Why, and how to make it work

Water

Needs about 500 mm of water here in its growing months.

Temperature

Grows best at 22–32 °C on average, and survives 10–45 °C.

Here, in its growing months (day / night):

Jun 37 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
Jul 36 °C / 26 °C
Aug 35 °C / 26 °C
Sep 35 °C / 26 °C

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Soil

Likes pH 5.5–6.5. We have no pH figures for this place.

Money

Yield: about 10 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (your district's own figure looked wrong).

Mandi price at this season's harvest so far (October–November 2026): about ₹6,875 a quintal across mandis in your state.

This week: about ₹6,375 a quintal, the middle of 4 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹26,000 a season after typical costs.

Minimum support price: ₹7,517 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.

Average mandi price each year (₹ a quintal):

₹8,410 2021
₹8,800 2022
₹8,540 2023
₹7,440 2024
₹6,200 2025

Prices are usually best in June.

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.

Fertiliser for one acre here

Urea

4 kg

DAP

35 kg

MOP

27 kg

Draft: check with your Krishi Vigyan Kendra.

See every crop that suits Chennai

What it needs

Temperature

22–32 °C

best 22–32° 10° 45°

0 °C40 °C

Survives 10–45 °C. Frost hurts it.

Water

360–570 mm over its season

Rain and irrigation together, worked out where most of it grows:

Ananthapuramu Bikaner Rajkot Junagadh Devbhumi Dwarka

Soil pH

best 5.5–6.5

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes slightly acidic soil. Grows from pH 4.5 to 8.5.

Soil

No salty soil
Needs rich soil
N Makes its own nitrogen
S Needs plenty of sulphur and boron

How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°); TerraClimate 1991–2020 temperature normals (about 4 km), where each district's villages are.

Fertiliser for one acre

Draft: check with your Krishi Vigyan Kendra

For most fields

Urea nitrogen

4 kg less than a quarter of a 45 kg bag

DAP phosphate

35 kg about ¾ of a 50 kg bag

MOP potash

27 kg about half a 50 kg bag

Gypsum: 202 kg for one acre at flowering, for calcium and sulphur

Give the DAP and MOP at sowing, and the urea in two or three doses. If your soil card says a nutrient is low, add about a quarter more of it.

Watch out for

Draft: check with your Krishi Vigyan Kendra

Tikka leaf spot

Disease

Look for

Dark brown round spots on the leaves; leaves fall early.

What to do first

Rotate crops; spray chlorothalonil or mancozeb when spots appear. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.
Stem rot

Disease

Look for

White mould at the stem base with small mustard-like seeds; the plant wilts.

What to do first

Plough deep, apply gypsum and add Trichoderma to the soil.
Leaf miner

Pest

Look for

Small brown blotches on leaves; leaves fold and dry.

What to do first

Use light traps; spray when many leaves are folded. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.
White grub

Pest

Look for

Plants wilt and die; roots and pods eaten; C-shaped grubs in the soil.

What to do first

Collect beetles after the first rains and plough deep; treat the soil as your KVK advises.

What an acre earns

At India's average yield and a recent price, named below. Your land, water and mandi will differ.

Left an acre, a season

₹16,700

Yield India's average: 8.0 quintals an acre
× Price harvest price this season so far (Oct–Nov 2026): ₹7,087 a quintal
= Income: ₹56,900
− Costs seed, fertiliser, labour and machines, as the government costs them: −₹40,200
= Left: ₹16,700

This week groundnut sells at about ₹7,170 a quintal: India's middle price at 137 mandis, latest 13 Nov. At that price an acre would leave about ₹17,400 a season.

Sold at the support price (MSP, ₹7,517 a quintal) to government procurement, an acre would leave about ₹20,100 a season. Procurement isn't open everywhere: ask at your mandi or agriculture office.

A good year or field earns about a fifth more, a poor one a fifth less: ₹45,500 to ₹68,300 income an acre. Costs stay the same either way.

Work it out for your land

Mandi price, month by month

Best month

November, ₹7,109 a quintal

Lowest

December, ₹5,763 a quintal

₹7,109

₹5,763

JJan FFeb MMar AApr MMay JJun JJul AAug SSep OOct NNov DDec

Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis: each month's latest price (Dec 2025–Nov 2026).

Government minimum support price (MSP): ₹7,517 a quintal for 2026-27. Every crop's MSP

Latest prices near Chennai Today's price across India

Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India: 1.3 crore acres; 2024-25
Average yield: 8.0 quintals an acre (2.0 tonnes a hectare); recent years, to 2024-25
Most area: Bikaner; Rajasthan
Best yield: Purba Medinipur; 19 quintals an acre

Where it grows most

The districts with the most area in recent years. The map colours every district growing it on at least 100 ha by yield; the numbers mark these districts.

Groundnut yield, quintals an acre (average of 2020-21 to 2024-25 in most districts)

2.0–4.3
4.4–5.8
5.9–7.9
8.0–9.3
9.4–23

No data

1 Numbers match the list: the districts with the most area.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2020-21 to 2024-25.

Where yields are highest

Districts growing it on at least 100 ha, against the average across India. The line runs from India's average to each district.

Across India over the years

Yield across India, quintals an acre

0 2.5 q 5 q 7.5 q 10 q

2004-05 2024-25

Latest 8.5 quintals an acre in 2024-25

Area sown across India, acres

1 crore 1.2 crore 1.4 crore 1.6 crore 1.8 crore

2004-05 2024-25

Latest 1.3 crore acres in 2024-25

Years run July to June. Only years in which most of the usual districts reported are shown.

Soil and yield

How district soil tests line up with this crop's yields across India.

Groundnut yields tend to be higher in districts with

More soil high in phosphorus weak 381 districts
More soil high in potassium weak 384 districts
More soil that is alkaline weak 391 districts

A pattern is not proof that soil causes the difference.

Source: Soil Health Card – soil nutrient analysis (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).