Lemon
Holds the land all year
Counted with lime in government figures. Priced from mandis across your state.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Doesn't suit: Too cold in january
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 830 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 480 mm it can use in a normal year, and 350 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 28 °C / 16 °C
- Jul 29 °C / 18 °C
- Aug 28 °C / 17 °C
- Sep 27 °C / 13 °C
- Oct 23 °C / 7 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 17 °C / 2 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 10 °C / -2 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 7 °C / -3 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 10 °C / 0 °C (outside its best range)
- Mar 16 °C / 4 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 21 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
- May 25 °C / 12 °C
- Jun 28 °C / 16 °C
Nights in November can bring frost. When frost is forecast, water the field lightly in the evening.
Soil
Soil for Lemon: 9 out of 10 (good).
- 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 46 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state). 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–November 2026): about ₹7,625 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹8,250 a quintal, the middle of 4 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
- ₹4,500 2021
- ₹5,780 2022
- ₹5,390 2023
- ₹9,160 2024
- ₹5,380 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in April.
Typical costs are about ₹1.1 lakh 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
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Short of zinc Your soil is likely short of zinc.
Mix 10 kg of zinc sulphate per acre into the soil before sowing. One dose lasts two or three seasons.
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.