Ragi (Finger Millet)
Sow in August, harvest around December
This season's sowing time (June–August) is over.
Grown on 137 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
₹12,000–₹18,000
per acre a season, before costs
Likely a loss at typical costs: ₹3,000–₹9,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 2 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 2 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 340 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 290 mm it can use in a normal year, and 200 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 18–30 °C on average, and survives 8–35 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Aug 34 °C / 26 °C
- Sep 34 °C / 25 °C
- Oct 33 °C / 24 °C
- Nov 31 °C / 22 °C
Soil
Soil for Ragi (Finger Millet): 8 out of 10 (good).
- Soil here is often more alkaline than it likes.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of zinc, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 4.9 quintals an acre here (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 85% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 85% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (December 2025–January 2026): about ₹3,661 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 ₹6,000 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.
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.
About 100% of local fields of this crop get it.
-
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.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 100%
- Urea 100%