Niger Seed
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 49 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 3 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Not known: No soil data
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 3 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 330 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 10 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 34 °C / 23 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 34 °C / 19 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 32 °C / 16 °C
- Jan 31 °C / 15 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Likes pH 5.5–6.5. We have no pH figures for this place.
Money
Yield: about 2.3 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 (January–February 2026): about ₹8,763 a quintal across India's mandis.
Minimum support price: ₹10,052 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹5,600 2021
- ₹6,380 2022
- ₹8,000 2023
- ₹8,000 2024
- ₹8,130 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.