Lentil (Masoor)
Sow in October, harvest around July
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop. Priced from mandis across India.
₹24,000–₹36,000
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹8,000–₹20,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 3 irrigations short
- Doesn't suit: Too cold in january
- Suits: Soil 10/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 3 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 550 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 340 mm it can use in a normal year (220 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 90 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 15–29 °C on average, and survives 5–32 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 16 °C / 4 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 9 °C / -1 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 3 °C / -7 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan -2 °C / -10 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 1 °C / -8 °C (outside its best range)
- Mar 6 °C / -4 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 12 °C / 3 °C (outside its best range)
- May 18 °C / 7 °C (outside its best range)
- Jun 22 °C / 10 °C
- Jul 22 °C / 12 °C
Soil
Soil for Lentil (Masoor): 10 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Low nitrogen matters less: it makes its own.
Likes pH 5.5–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 5.6 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (its government crop records list none for your district).
On rain alone it gets about 77% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 77% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (July–August 2026): about ₹6,951 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹6,950 a quintal, the middle of 10 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹14,000 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹7,390 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹6,000 2021
- ₹6,220 2022
- ₹5,860 2023
- ₹6,660 2024
- ₹6,740 2025
Prices are usually best in November.
Typical costs are about ₹16,000 an acre (seed, fertiliser, labour and hired machines, from the government's cost survey). They are spent whatever the harvest.