Lemon
Holds the land all year
Counted with lime in government figures. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹1.7 lakh–₹2.6 lakh
per acre a year, before costs
once bearing, from about year 3
After typical costs: ₹1.0 lakh–₹1.9 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 1,130 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 1,040 mm it can use in a normal year, and 920 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 33 °C / 24 °C (outside its best range)
- Jul 29 °C / 23 °C
- Aug 28 °C / 23 °C
- Sep 29 °C / 22 °C
- Oct 30 °C / 20 °C
- Nov 29 °C / 16 °C
- Dec 28 °C / 12 °C
- Jan 28 °C / 12 °C
- Feb 31 °C / 15 °C
- Mar 35 °C / 19 °C
- Apr 37 °C / 23 °C (outside its best range)
- May 38 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
- Jun 33 °C / 24 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
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 boron, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
Likes pH 6.5–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 29 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 (December 2025–November 2026): about ₹7,400 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹8,400 a quintal, the middle of 4 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹1.8 lakh a year after typical costs.
- ₹3,000 2021
- ₹4,380 2022
- ₹3,950 2023
- ₹5,600 2024
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 ₹72,000 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
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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 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.
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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.
-
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.