Lemon
Holds the land all year
Counted with lime in government figures. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹58,000–₹87,000
per acre a year, before costs
once bearing, from about year 3
After typical costs: ₹17,000–₹46,000 an acre a year
- Suits: Rain is enough
- Doesn't suit: Too cold in january
- Suits: Soil 9/10
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 840 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 830 mm it can use in a normal year, and 610 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 27 °C / 14 °C
- Jul 24 °C / 15 °C
- Aug 24 °C / 14 °C
- Sep 24 °C / 14 °C
- Oct 22 °C / 11 °C
- Nov 17 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 14 °C / 4 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 12 °C / 2 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 15 °C / 4 °C (outside its best range)
- Mar 19 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 25 °C / 11 °C
- May 27 °C / 13 °C
- Jun 27 °C / 14 °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 iron, 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 17 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 ₹4,275 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹3,600 a quintal, the middle of 3 mandis in your state (latest 11 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹20,000 a year after typical costs.
- ₹2,950 2022
- ₹2,800 2023
- ₹3,410 2024
- ₹3,660 2025
Prices are usually best in April.
Typical costs are about ₹41,000 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.