Niger Seed
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
No figures for this season in your district. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹7,000–₹10,000
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹2,000 to a profit of ₹2,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 2 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 9/10
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 280 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 200 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 18–26 °C on average, and survives 11–34 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 31 °C / 21 °C
- Nov 29 °C / 15 °C
- Dec 27 °C / 12 °C
- Jan 27 °C / 12 °C
Soil
Soil for Niger Seed: 9 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
Likes pH 5.5–6.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 1.2 quintals an acre here in its other seasons (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 78% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 78% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (January–February 2026): about ₹9,300 a quintal across mandis in your state.
Minimum support price: ₹10,052 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹6,460 2022
- ₹8,400 2023
- ₹8,380 2025
Prices are usually best in August.
Typical costs are about ₹8,000 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 1.6 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 100%
- Urea 100%