Horse Gram (Kulthi)

Water

Rain is enough in a normal year. Keep one irrigation ready for a dry year.

Needs about 280 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 80 mm it can use in a normal year (30 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 200 mm from the monsoon at sowing.

Temperature

Grows best at 20–28 °C on average, and survives 17–35 °C.

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

• Oct 32 °C / 23 °C
• Nov 30 °C / 18 °C
• Dec 26 °C / 13 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 25 °C / 11 °C (outside its best range)

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Soil

Soil for Horse Gram (Kulthi): 9 out of 10 (good).

• The pH here suits it, though not most crops.
• Low nitrogen matters less: it makes its own.
• Most fields here are short of organic carbon.

Likes pH 5.5–7.0.

Money

Yield: about 2.5 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).

Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹3,830 a quintal across India's mandis.

This week: about ₹4,963 a quintal, the middle of 12 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹7,000 a season after typical costs.

Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.

Prices are usually best in October.

Typical costs are about ₹6,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.