Pumpkin

A monsoon crop. Sow in Jun–Jul, harvest in Oct–Nov.

Check it on your land
Season
Kharif
JJASONDJFMAM

Sowing Growing Harvest

Also grown in summer.
Ready in
110 days
about 3½ months
Grows best at
20–30 °C
0 °C survives 10–40 °C 40 °C

When to sow and harvest

Kharif
Summer
Today: kharif harvest
J J A S O N D J F M A M
Sow Growing Harvest
The year starts in June, with the monsoon. Your district can shift a few weeks.

Sowing Growing Harvest

Will it grow on your land?

Sukma Chhattisgarh
Water
Season

Good fit in Sukma

Pumpkin

JJASONDJFMAM

Sow in June, harvest around October

This season's sowing time (June–July) is over.

No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop. Priced from mandis across India.

₹66,000–₹98,000

per acre a season, before costs

After typical costs: ₹19,000–₹52,000 an acre a season

  • Suits: Rain is enough
  • Suits: Ideal temperatures
  • Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work

Water

Rain is enough, even in a dry year.

Needs about 380 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 950 mm it can use in a normal year, and 770 mm in a dry year.

Heavy rain here can waterlog it. Grow it on raised beds or land that drains well.

Temperature

Grows best at 20–30 °C on average, and survives 10–40 °C.

Here, in its growing months (day / night):

  • Jun 35 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
  • Jul 31 °C / 25 °C
  • Aug 30 °C / 24 °C
  • Sep 31 °C / 24 °C

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Soil

Soil for Pumpkin: 7 out of 10 (okay).

  • The pH here suits it.
  • Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
  • Most fields here are short of sulphur.
  • Most fields here are short of zinc.

Likes pH 5.5–7.5.

How the soil score works

Money

Yield: about 55 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (its government crop records list none for your district).

Mandi price at this season's harvest so far (October–November 2026): about ₹1,500 a quintal across India's mandis.

This week: about ₹1,500 a quintal, the middle of 374 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹36,000 a season after typical costs.

Average mandi price each year (₹ a quintal):
  1. ₹1,070 2021
  2. ₹1,360 2022
  3. ₹1,220 2023
  4. ₹1,550 2024
  5. ₹1,380 2025

Prices are usually best in March.

Typical costs are about ₹46,000 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 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 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.

See every crop that suits Sukma

What it needs

Temperature

20–30 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 10–40 °C. Frost hurts it.

Water

The check above works out its water need on your land.

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes neutral soil. Grows from pH 4.5 to 8.3.

Soil

  • No salty soil
  • Needs rich soil
  • N Needs plenty of nitrogen and potassium
How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°); TerraClimate 1991–2020 temperature normals (about 4 km), where each district's villages are.

Fertiliser for one acre

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra for the dose.

Watch out for

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to watch for.

What an acre earns

At India's average yield and a recent price, named below. Your land, water and mandi will differ.

Left an acre, a season

₹58,500

Yield India's average
89.5 quintals an acre
× Price harvest price this season so far (Oct–Nov 2026)
₹1,500 a quintal
= Income
₹1,34,300
− Costs about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), as in farm cost surveys
−₹75,800
= Left
₹58,500

This week pumpkin sells at about ₹1,500 a quintal: India's middle price at 374 mandis, latest 13 Nov. At that price an acre would leave about ₹58,500 a season.

A good year or field earns about a fifth more, a poor one a fifth less: ₹1,07,400 to ₹1,61,100 income an acre. Costs stay the same either way.

Work it out for your land

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
March, ₹1,667 a quintal
Lowest
May, ₹1,170 a quintal
₹1,667
₹1,170
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis: each month's latest price (Dec 2025–Nov 2026).

Latest prices near Sukma Today's price across India

Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
3.3 lakh acres
2025-26
Average yield
89.5 quintals an acre (22.1 tonnes a hectare)
2025-26
Most area
Odisha
22% of India's

States that grow it

Each state's share of India's production, in its latest year with figures (2025-26). Tap a state to open it.

Source: Horticulture area & production statistics (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).

Where it grows most

The districts with the most area in recent years. The map colours every district growing it on at least 100 ha by yield; the numbers mark these districts.

No recent district figures for this crop.