Lemon
Holds the land all year
Counted with lime in government figures. Sold at 6 mandis in your district.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Needs care: Very hot in May
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 1,190 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 360 mm it can use in a normal year, and 250 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 15–28 °C on average, and survives 12–36 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jun 40 °C / 29 °C (outside its best range)
- Jul 35 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
- Aug 33 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Sep 34 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
- Oct 35 °C / 20 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 13 °C
- Dec 24 °C / 8 °C
- Jan 21 °C / 7 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 26 °C / 11 °C
- Mar 33 °C / 16 °C
- Apr 39 °C / 22 °C (outside its best range)
- May 42 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
- Jun 40 °C / 29 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Days in May get hotter than it likes. Young plants need shade and water then.
Soil
Soil for Lemon: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of zinc, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of iron, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of boron, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 6.5–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 11 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (its government crop records list none for your district). Government figures count it with lime.
A new planting gives its first real harvest after about 3 years. The money here is for plants already bearing.
Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.
Mandi price through the year (December 2025, June–September 2026): about ₹4,625 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹5,500 a quintal, the middle of 10 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹3,020 2021
- ₹4,500 2022
- ₹4,100 2023
- ₹5,960 2024
- ₹4,190 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in June.
Typical costs are about ₹28,000 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
-
Short of nitrogen Your soil is likely short of nitrogen.
Add about a quarter more urea than the usual dose, in two or three splits. A pulse crop in rotation also adds nitrogen.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
Short of organic carbon Your soil is likely short of organic carbon.
Add 4 tonnes of compost or farmyard manure per acre before sowing, and plough crop leftovers back in instead of burning them.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
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.