Moth Bean
Sow in July, harvest around September
This season's sowing time (June–July) is over.
Grown on 77 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 300 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 150 mm it can use in a normal year, and 90 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 24–32 °C on average, and survives 13–45 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jul 36 °C / 27 °C
- Aug 34 °C / 26 °C
- Sep 35 °C / 24 °C
Soil
Soil for Moth Bean: 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Low nitrogen matters less: it makes its own.
- Most fields here are short of potassium.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of iron.
Likes pH 6.5–8.2.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 1.4 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 (September–October 2026): about ₹9,525 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹9,750 a quintal, the middle of 3 mandis across India (latest 12 Nov).
- ₹6,910 2021
- ₹6,570 2022
- ₹6,320 2023
- ₹5,950 2024
- ₹6,330 2025
Prices are usually best in October.
Typical costs are about ₹4,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.
How to make it work
-
Short of potassium Your soil is likely short of potassium.
Add about a quarter more potash (MOP) than the usual dose.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
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.
-
Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.