Horse Gram (Kulthi)

A winter crop. Sow in Oct–Nov, harvest in Feb–Mar.

Check it on your land
Season
Rabi
JJASONDJFMAM

Sowing Growing Harvest

60% of its area. Also grown in kharif.
Ready in
110 days
about 3½ months
Water
330–350 mm
of water over its season (rain plus irrigation)
Grows best at
20–28 °C
0 °C survives 17–35 °C 40 °C

When to sow and harvest

Rabi 60% of its area
Kharif 40% of its area
Today: rabi sowing time
J J A S O N D J F M A M
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?

Water
Season

Pick your place and water to see:

  • Whether Horse Gram (Kulthi) suits your land Good fit, possible or won't work, with the reasons.
  • What it could earn an acre From yields near you and mandi prices.
  • Water and fertiliser it needs Irrigations for your water, and bags for one acre.

What it needs

Temperature

20–28 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 17–35 °C. Frost hurts it.

Water

330–350 mm over its season

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

Mysuru Krishnagiri Chamarajanagar Chittoor Mandya

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes neutral soil. Grows from pH 5 to 8.

Soil

  • Takes a little salt
  • Ordinary farm soil is fine
  • N Makes its own nitrogen
  • P Needs plenty of phosphorus and sulphur
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

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra for the dose.

Watch out for

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to watch for.

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

₹3,700

Yield India's average
2.5 quintals an acre
× Price harvest price last season (Feb–Mar 2026)
₹3,830 a quintal
= Income
₹9,600
− Costs about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys
−₹5,900
= Left
₹3,700

This week horse gram (kulthi) sells at about ₹4,920 a quintal: India's middle price at 12 mandis, latest 11 Nov. At that price an acre would leave about ₹6,400 a season.

A good year or field earns about a fifth more, a poor one a fifth less: ₹7,700 to ₹11,500 income an acre. Costs stay the same either way.

Work it out for your land

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
October, ₹5,623 a quintal
Lowest
March, ₹3,795 a quintal
₹3,795
₹5,623
J F M A M J J A S O N D

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

Latest prices at mandis near you Today's price across India

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

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
6.9 lakh acres
2022-23
Average yield
2.5 quintals an acre (0.6 tonnes a hectare)
recent years, to 2022-23
Most area
Mysuru
Karnataka
Best yield
Ranga Reddy
4.7 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.

47% of India's horse gram (kulthi) area is in these 10 districts

  1. 1 Mysuru Karnataka 9.5% 79,667 acres
  2. 2 Chamarajanagar Karnataka 8.0% 66,867 acres
  3. 3 Krishnagiri Tamil Nadu 6.0% 50,113 acres
  4. 4 Mandya Karnataka 5.7% 47,796 acres
  5. 5 Tumakuru Karnataka 4.2% 34,708 acres
  6. 6 Dharmapuri Tamil Nadu 3.4% 28,090 acres
  7. 7 Haveri Karnataka 2.5% 21,049 acres
  8. 8 Koppal Karnataka 2.5% 20,747 acres
  9. 9 Tirupathur Tamil Nadu 2.4% 20,259 acres
  10. 10 Tiruppur Tamil Nadu 2.3% 19,430 acres

Horse Gram (Kulthi) yield, quintals an acre (average of 2018-19 to 2022-23 in most districts)

  1. 0.9–1.5
  2. 1.6–2.1
  3. 2.2–2.5
  4. 2.6–3.2
  5. 3.3–4.7
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). 2018-19 to 2022-23.

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.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2018-19 to 2022-23.

Across India over the years

Yield across India, quintals an acre

0 1 q 2 q 3 q
2003-04 2022-23
Latest 2.5 quintals an acre in 2022-23

Area sown across India, acres

0 5 lakh 10 lakh 15 lakh 20 lakh
2003-04 2022-23
Latest 6.9 lakh acres in 2022-23

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

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2003-04 to 2022-23.

Soil and yield

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

Horse Gram (Kulthi) yields tend to be higher in districts with

  • More soil high in phosphorus weak 158 districts

Horse Gram (Kulthi) yields tend to be lower in districts with

  • More soil short of zinc weak 162 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).