Maize
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 4.9 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹17,000–₹25,000
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹5,000 to a profit of ₹3,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 2 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 2 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 310 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 30 mm it can use in a normal year (10 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 190 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 18–33 °C on average, and survives 10–47 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 32 °C / 22 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 17 °C
- Dec 28 °C / 13 °C
- Jan 28 °C / 13 °C
Soil
Soil for Maize: 7 out of 10 (okay).
Not in the score: pH and sulphur.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of zinc, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 5.0–7.0. We have no pH figures for this place.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 13 quintals an acre here (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 70% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 70% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (January–February 2026): about ₹2,275 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹2,700 a quintal, the middle of 495 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹3,000 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹2,410 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹1,630 2021
- ₹1,920 2022
- ₹2,000 2023
- ₹2,100 2024
- ₹2,210 2025
Prices are usually best in May.
Typical costs are about ₹22,000 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 37 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
-
Short of nitrogen Your soil is likely short of nitrogen.
Add about a quarter more urea than the usual dose, in two or three splits. A pulse crop in rotation also adds nitrogen.
About 89% of local fields of this crop get it.
-
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.
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):
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 100%
- Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) 89%
- Urea 89%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 11%