Lentil (Masoor)
Sow in October, harvest around February
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 50 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 4 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- 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 320 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 0 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 150 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 35 °C / 20 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 13 °C
- Dec 26 °C / 9 °C
- Jan 24 °C / 8 °C
Soil
Soil for Lentil (Masoor): 9 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: phosphorus.
- The pH here suits it.
- Low nitrogen matters less: it makes its own.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of zinc.
Likes pH 5.5–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 4.5 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (your district's own figure looked wrong).
Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹5,732 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹5,799 a quintal, the middle of 5 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
Minimum support price: ₹7,390 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹5,800 2021
- ₹6,000 2022
- ₹5,430 2023
- ₹5,610 2024
- ₹5,820 2025
Prices are usually best in June.
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.
How to make it work
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 4.6 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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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 zinc Your soil is likely short of zinc.
Mix 10 kg of zinc sulphate per acre into the soil before sowing. One dose lasts two or three seasons.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.