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?

Khandwa (East Nimar) Madhya Pradesh
Water
Season

Possible in Khandwa (East Nimar), with effort

Horse Gram (Kulthi)

JJASONDJFMAM

Sow in July, harvest around November

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

No recent figures for your district. Priced from mandis across your state.

₹5,000–₹7,000

per acre a season, before costs

Likely a loss at typical costs: ₹569–₹3,000 an acre a season

  • Suits: Rain is enough
  • Suits: Ideal temperatures
  • Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work

Water

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

Needs about 390 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 400 mm it can use in a normal year, and 340 mm in a dry year.

Temperature

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

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

  • Jul 31 °C / 24 °C
  • Aug 30 °C / 24 °C
  • Sep 31 °C / 23 °C
  • Oct 34 °C / 20 °C

Soil

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

  • The pH here suits it.
  • Low nitrogen matters less: it makes its own.
  • Many fields here are short of phosphorus, which it needs a lot.

Likes pH 5.5–7.0.

How the soil score works

Money

Yield: about 1.0 quintals an acre here (older figures, 2018-19).

Mandi price at last season's harvest (November 2025): about ₹5,780 a quintal across mandis in your state.

This week: about ₹4,963 a quintal, the middle of 12 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would lose about ₹3,000 a season at typical costs.

Average mandi price each year (₹ a quintal):
  1. ₹4,540 2021
  2. ₹4,350 2022
  3. ₹4,750 2023

Prices are usually best in August.

Typical costs are about ₹8,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.

How to make it work

What local farmers put on it (share of fields):

  • Urea 100%
  • Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 94%
  • Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 79%
  • Muriate of Potash (MOP) 21%
See every crop that suits Khandwa (East Nimar)

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

₹5,600

Yield India's average
2.5 quintals an acre
× Price harvest price this season so far (Oct–Nov 2026)
₹5,459 a quintal
= Income
₹13,600
− Costs about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), as in farm cost surveys
−₹8,000
= Left
₹5,600

This week horse gram (kulthi) sells at about ₹4,963 a quintal: India's middle price at 12 mandis, latest 13 Nov. At that price an acre would leave about ₹4,400 a season.

A good year or field earns about a fifth more, a poor one a fifth less: ₹10,900 to ₹16,400 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 near Khandwa (East Nimar) 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).