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 8/10
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 760 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 830 mm it can use in a normal year, and 680 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 / 17 °C
- Jul 25 °C / 17 °C
- Aug 24 °C / 17 °C
- Sep 23 °C / 15 °C
- Oct 21 °C / 11 °C
- Nov 17 °C / 7 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 14 °C / 3 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 11 °C / 2 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 14 °C / 4 °C (outside its best range)
- Mar 18 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 23 °C / 12 °C
- May 26 °C / 15 °C
- Jun 27 °C / 17 °C
Nights in November can bring frost. When frost is forecast, water the field lightly in the evening.
Soil
Soil for Lemon: 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
- Most fields here are short of sulphur.
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.
-
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.