Linseed

A winter crop. Sow in Oct–Nov, harvest in Feb–Mar.

Check it on your land
Season
Rabi
JJASONDJFMAM

Sowing Growing Harvest

100% of its area.
Ready in
120 days
about 4 months
Water
310–350 mm
of water over its season (rain plus irrigation)
Grows best at
16–24 °C
0 °C survives 5–30 °C 40 °C

When to sow and harvest

Rabi 100% of its area
Today: rabi sowing time
J J A S O N D J F M A M
Sow Growing Harvest
The year starts in June, with the monsoon. Your district can shift a few weeks.

Sowing Growing Harvest

Will it grow on your land?

Neemuch Madhya Pradesh
Water
Season

Possible in Neemuch, with effort

Linseed

JJASONDJFMAM

Sow in October, harvest around February

Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.

Grown on 12,115 acres here. Sold at 4 mandis in your district.

₹9,000–₹13,000

per acre a season, before costs

After typical costs: ₹878–₹5,000 an acre a season

  • Needs care: Risky: 4 irrigations short
  • Suits: Ideal temperatures
  • Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work

Water

Rain falls about 4 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.

Needs about 340 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 16–24 °C on average, and survives 5–30 °C.

Here, in its growing months (day / night):

  • Oct 34 °C / 19 °C (outside its best range)
  • Nov 31 °C / 15 °C
  • Dec 27 °C / 11 °C
  • Jan 25 °C / 10 °C
  • Feb 29 °C / 13 °C

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Soil

Soil for Linseed: 8 out of 10 (good).

  • The pH here suits it.
  • Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
  • Many fields here are short of boron, which it needs a lot.

Likes pH 6.0–6.5.

How the soil score works

Money

Yield: about 3.3 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).

On rain alone it gets about 45% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 45% of this yield.

Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹7,558 a quintal at mandis in your district.

This week: about ₹10,000 a quintal, the middle of 14 mandis in your state (latest 12 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹7,000 a season after typical costs.

Average mandi price each year (₹ a quintal):
  1. ₹7,310 2021
  2. ₹6,290 2022
  3. ₹4,890 2023
  4. ₹7,280 2025

Prices are usually best in October.

Typical costs are about ₹8,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.

How to make it work

  • 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.

    Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.

  • Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.

    Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.

    Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.

What local farmers put on it (share of fields):

  • Urea 100%
  • Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 47%
See every crop that suits Neemuch

What it needs

Temperature

16–24 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 5–30 °C.

Water

310–350 mm over its season

Rain and irrigation together, worked out where most of it grows:

Mandsaur West Singhbhum Mahoba Sonbhadra Seoni

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes slightly acidic soil. Grows from pH 5.5 to 7.

Soil

  • No salty soil
  • Needs rich soil
  • S Needs plenty of sulphur and boron
How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°); TerraClimate 1991–2020 temperature normals (about 4 km), where each district's villages are.

Fertiliser for one acre

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra for the dose.

Watch out for

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to watch for.

What an acre earns

At India's average yield and a recent price, named below. Your land, water and mandi will differ.

Left an acre, a season

₹10,500

Yield India's average
2.6 quintals an acre
× Price harvest price last season (Feb–Mar 2026)
₹7,063 a quintal
= Income
₹18,500
− Costs about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys
−₹8,000
= Left
₹10,500

This week linseed sells at about ₹10,000 a quintal: India's middle price at 17 mandis, latest 12 Nov. At that price an acre would leave about ₹18,100 a season.

A good year or field earns about a fifth more, a poor one a fifth less: ₹14,800 to ₹22,200 income an acre. Costs stay the same either way.

Work it out for your land

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
November, ₹9,951 a quintal
Lowest
February, ₹7,051 a quintal
₹7,051
₹9,951
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis: each month's latest price (Dec 2025–Nov 2026).

Latest prices near Neemuch Today's price across India

Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
4.0 lakh acres
2024-25
Average yield
2.6 quintals an acre (0.6 tonnes a hectare)
recent years, to 2024-25
Most area
Mandsaur
Madhya Pradesh
Best yield
Baran
6.5 quintals an acre

Where it grows most

The districts with the most area in recent years. The map colours every district growing it on at least 100 ha by yield; the numbers mark these districts.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2020-21 to 2024-25.

Where yields are highest

Districts growing it on at least 100 ha, against the average across India. The line runs from India's average to each district.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2020-21 to 2024-25.

Across India over the years

Yield across India, quintals an acre

0 1 q 2 q 3 q
1998-99 2024-25
Latest 2.7 quintals an acre in 2024-25

Area sown across India, acres

0 5 lakh 10 lakh 15 lakh
1998-99 2024-25
Latest 4.0 lakh acres in 2024-25

Years run July to June. Only years in which most of the usual districts reported are shown.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 1998-99 to 2024-25.

Soil and yield

How district soil tests line up with this crop's yields across India.

Linseed yields tend to be higher in districts with

  • More soil high in phosphorus weak 158 districts

Linseed yields tend to be lower in districts with

  • More soil low in nitrogen weak 152 districts
  • More soil short of zinc weak 162 districts

A pattern is not proof that soil causes the difference.

Source: Soil Health Card – soil nutrient analysis (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).