Niger Seed
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
No recent figures for your district. Priced from mandis across India.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 330 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 80 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 / 20 °C
- Nov 31 °C / 17 °C
- Dec 31 °C / 15 °C
- Jan 31 °C / 15 °C
Soil
Soil for Niger Seed: 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
- Most fields here are short of iron.
Likes pH 5.5–6.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 1.6 quintals an acre here (older figures, 2016-17).
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.
How to make it work
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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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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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.