Rapeseed & Mustard
Sow in October, harvest around February
This season's sowing time (October) is over.
Grown on 38 acres here. Sold at 2 mandis in your district.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 380 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 0 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 100 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 15–28 °C on average, and survives 7–40 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 35 °C / 22 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 33 °C / 18 °C
- Dec 31 °C / 14 °C
- Jan 29 °C / 12 °C
- Feb 32 °C / 15 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Rapeseed & Mustard: 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Salt in the soil here can harm it.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
Likes pH 6.0–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 7.9 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (your district's own figure looked wrong).
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 last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹5,508 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹8,226 a quintal, the middle of 176 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).
Minimum support price: ₹6,613 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
Prices are usually best in October.
Typical costs are about ₹20,000 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
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 7.2 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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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.