Ragi (Finger Millet)
Sow in October, harvest around February
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
No figures for this season in your district. Priced from mandis across India.
₹11,000–₹17,000
per acre a season, before costs
Likely a loss at typical costs: ₹4,000–₹10,000 an acre a season
- Suits: Rain is enough
- Doesn't suit: Too cold here in this season
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain is enough, even in a dry year.
Needs about 170 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 60 mm it can use in a normal year (40 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 200 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 18–30 °C on average, and survives 8–35 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 23 °C / 13 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 20 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 16 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 15 °C / 4 °C (outside its best range)
Nights in December can bring frost. When frost is forecast, water the field lightly in the evening.
Soil
Soil for Ragi (Finger Millet): 9 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 4.0 quintals an acre here in its other seasons (district figures).
Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹3,592 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹3,500 a quintal, the middle of 42 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would lose about ₹7,000 a season at typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹5,205 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹2,260 2021
- ₹2,280 2022
- ₹2,800 2023
- ₹3,300 2024
- ₹3,530 2025
Prices are usually best in January.
Typical costs are about ₹21,000 an acre (seed, fertiliser, labour and hired machines, from the government's cost survey). They are spent whatever the harvest.