Lemon
Holds the land all year
Counted with lime in government figures. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹2.8 lakh–₹4.2 lakh
per acre a year, before costs
once bearing, from about year 3
After typical costs: ₹1.7 lakh–₹3.1 lakh an acre a year
- Suits: Rain is enough
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Needs care: Soil 6/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain is enough in a normal year. Keep one irrigation ready for a dry year.
Needs about 1,050 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 1,050 mm it can use in a normal year, and 800 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 34 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Jul 32 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Aug 32 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Sep 32 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Oct 31 °C / 24 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 19 °C
- Dec 28 °C / 16 °C
- Jan 28 °C / 15 °C
- Feb 31 °C / 19 °C
- Mar 34 °C / 23 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 35 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
- May 36 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
- Jun 34 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Lemon: 6 out of 10 (okay).
- Soil here is often more acidic than it likes.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of zinc, 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 45 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.
Mandi price through the year (March–May 2026, September 2026): about ₹7,750 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹7,500 a quintal, the middle of 145 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹2.3 lakh a year after typical costs.
- ₹2,900 2021
- ₹3,000 2022
- ₹2,950 2023
- ₹2,730 2024
- ₹3,400 2025
Prices are usually best in September.
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 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 phosphorus Your soil is likely short of phosphorus.
Add about a quarter more DAP or single super phosphate than the usual dose, at sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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Short of sulphur Your soil is likely short of sulphur.
Use single super phosphate instead of DAP, or add about 100 kg of gypsum per acre before sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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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.