Niger Seed
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop. 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 10/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 320 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 30 mm it can use in a normal year (20 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 0 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 30 °C / 20 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 18 °C
- Dec 30 °C / 16 °C
- Jan 31 °C / 17 °C
Soil
Soil for Niger Seed: 10 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: salt.
- The pH here suits it.
Likes pH 5.5–6.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 1.0 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.