Lentil (Masoor)
Sow in October, harvest around February
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 3,642 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 4 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
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 350 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 20 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 180 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 32 °C / 21 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 15 °C
- Dec 28 °C / 13 °C
- Jan 28 °C / 12 °C
Soil
Soil for Lentil (Masoor): 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Low nitrogen matters less: it makes its own.
- Many fields here are short of phosphorus, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 5.5–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 3.8 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 ₹6,027 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹6,950 a quintal, the middle of 10 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).
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.
How to make it work
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 3.6 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of phosphorus Your soil is likely short of phosphorus.
Add about a quarter more DAP or single super phosphate than the usual dose, at sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.