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 7/10
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 1,020 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 930 mm it can use in a normal year, and 860 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 31 °C / 23 °C
- Jul 27 °C / 21 °C
- Aug 26 °C / 21 °C
- Sep 27 °C / 21 °C
- Oct 28 °C / 19 °C
- Nov 26 °C / 15 °C
- Dec 26 °C / 12 °C
- Jan 26 °C / 12 °C
- Feb 29 °C / 15 °C
- Mar 32 °C / 18 °C
- Apr 34 °C / 21 °C
- May 34 °C / 23 °C (outside its best range)
- Jun 31 °C / 23 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Lemon: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- Soil here is often more acidic than it likes.
- Many fields here are short of boron, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of phosphorus.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
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 ₹7,650 a quintal, the middle of 138 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹2.4 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 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.
-
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 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.