Nutmeg
Holds the land all year
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
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 1,900 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 360 mm it can use in a normal year, and 240 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 22–34 °C on average, and survives 12–38 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jun 35 °C / 23 °C
- Jul 31 °C / 23 °C
- Aug 31 °C / 22 °C
- Sep 31 °C / 22 °C
- Oct 33 °C / 21 °C
- Nov 32 °C / 18 °C
- Dec 31 °C / 16 °C
- Jan 32 °C / 16 °C
- Feb 35 °C / 18 °C
- Mar 38 °C / 22 °C
- Apr 41 °C / 25 °C
- May 41 °C / 26 °C
- Jun 35 °C / 23 °C
Soil
Soil for Nutmeg: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- 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 organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 3.0 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).
A new planting gives its first real harvest after about 6 years. The money here is for plants already bearing.
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 an earlier harvest (June–August 2025): about ₹25,000 a quintal across India's mandis.
- ₹29,000 2021
- ₹29,750 2022
- ₹29,250 2023
- ₹22,500 2024
- ₹29,500 2025
Prices are usually best in May.
Typical costs are about ₹41,000 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 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.
-
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 sulphur Your soil is likely short of sulphur.
Use single super phosphate instead of DAP, or add about 100 kg of gypsum per acre before sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
Short of zinc Your soil is likely short of zinc.
Mix 10 kg of zinc sulphate per acre into the soil before sowing. One dose lasts two or three seasons.
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 manganese Your soil is likely short of manganese.
Spray manganese sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, on the young crop.
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.