Lemon
Holds the land all year
Counted with lime in government figures. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹2.1 lakh–₹3.2 lakh
per acre a year, before costs
once bearing, from about year 3
After typical costs: ₹98,000–₹2.0 lakh an acre a year
- Needs care: Risky: 4 irrigations short
- Doesn't suit: Too cold in january
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 4 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 770 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 570 mm it can use in a normal year, and 400 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 / 16 °C
- Jul 28 °C / 17 °C
- Aug 28 °C / 17 °C
- Sep 25 °C / 13 °C
- Oct 21 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 15 °C / 3 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 10 °C / -1 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 6 °C / -3 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 8 °C / -1 °C (outside its best range)
- Mar 14 °C / 2 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 19 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
- May 23 °C / 12 °C
- Jun 27 °C / 16 °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.
- Most fields here are short of manganese.
Likes pH 6.5–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 46 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state). 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.
On rain alone it gets about 74% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 74% of this yield.
Mandi price through the year (December 2025–November 2026): about ₹7,625 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹8,250 a quintal, the middle of 4 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹1.7 lakh a year after typical costs.
- ₹4,500 2021
- ₹5,780 2022
- ₹5,390 2023
- ₹9,160 2024
- ₹5,380 2025
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 ₹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
-
Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
Short of manganese Your soil is likely short of manganese.
Spray manganese sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, on the young crop.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.