Ragi (Finger Millet)
Sow in June, harvest around October
This season's sowing time (June–August) is over.
No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop. Priced from mandis across India.
₹13,000–₹19,000
per acre a season, before costs
Likely a loss at typical costs: ₹2,000–₹8,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 3 irrigations short
- Needs care: Warm in June
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 3 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 410 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 300 mm it can use in a normal year, and 230 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):
- Jun 40 °C / 28 °C (outside its best range)
- Jul 36 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
- Aug 34 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Sep 34 °C / 25 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Ragi (Finger Millet): 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen, copper and boron.
- Soil here is often more alkaline than it likes.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–7.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 6.1 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).
On rain alone it gets about 75% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 75% of this yield.
Mandi price at this season's harvest so far (October–November 2026): about ₹3,500 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 ₹5,000 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 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.