Rice

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

Check it on your land
Season
Kharif
JJASONDJFMAM

Sowing Growing Harvest

83% of its area. Also grown in rabi, summer.
Ready in
125 days
about 4 months
Water
1,010–1,060 mm
of water over its season (rain plus irrigation)
Grows best at
20–30 °C
0 °C survives 15–36 °C 40 °C

When to sow and harvest

Kharif 83% of its area
Rabi 10% of its area
Summer 6% of its area
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?

Kottayam Kerala
Water
Season

Good fit in Kottayam

Rice

JJASONDJFMAM

Sow in September, harvest around January

This season's sowing time (September–October) is over.

Grown on 15,607 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.

₹40,000–₹61,000

per acre a season, before costs

After typical costs: ₹12,000–₹32,000 an acre a season

  • Suits: Rain is enough
  • Suits: Ideal temperatures
  • Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work

Water

Rain is enough in a normal year. Keep one irrigation ready for a dry year.

Needs about 990 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 890 mm it can use in a normal year, and 760 mm in a dry year.

Temperature

Grows best at 20–30 °C on average, and survives 15–36 °C.

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

  • Sep 31 °C / 24 °C
  • Oct 31 °C / 24 °C
  • Nov 31 °C / 24 °C
  • Dec 31 °C / 23 °C
  • Jan 32 °C / 23 °C

Soil

Soil for Rice: 9 out of 10 (good).

Not in the score: nitrogen.

  • The pH here suits it.
  • Most fields here are short of boron.

Likes pH 5.5–7.0.

How the soil score works

Money

Yield: about 18 quintals of paddy an acre here in this season (district figures).

Mandi price at last season's harvest (January–February 2026): about ₹2,860 a quintal across mandis in your state.

This week: about ₹2,461 a quintal, the middle of 698 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹15,000 a season after typical costs.

Minimum support price: ₹2,441 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.

Average mandi price each year (₹ a quintal):
  1. ₹1,930 2021
  2. ₹1,930 2022
  3. ₹2,080 2023
  4. ₹2,270 2024
  5. ₹2,420 2025

Prices are usually best in January.

Typical costs are about ₹29,000 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 14 quintals of paddy an acre. That's a realistic target.

  • Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.

    Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.

    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):

  • Urea 100%
  • Muriate of Potash (MOP) 97%
  • Ammonium Phosphate Sulphate / Nitrogen Phosphate 67%
  • Urea Ammonium Phosphate 8%

Fertiliser for one acre here

Urea
69 kg
DAP
26 kg
MOP
30 kg

Source: ICAR-IISS: District-wise general fertilizer recommendations for major crops in India (2026).

See every crop that suits Kottayam

What it needs

Temperature

20–30 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 15–36 °C. Frost hurts it.

Water

1,010–1,060 mm over its season

Rain and irrigation together, worked out where most of it grows:

Paschim Medinipur Purba Bardhaman Bankura South 24 Parganas Mayurbhanj

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes neutral soil. Grows from pH 4.5 to 9.

Soil

  • Takes a little salt
  • Needs rich soil
  • N Needs plenty of nitrogen and zinc
How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); IRRI (Yoshida 1981, Fundamentals of Rice Crop Science) and ICAR-NRRI; ICAR-CSSRI; 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

For most fields

Urea nitrogen
71 kg about 1½ bags of 45 kg
DAP phosphate
44 kg about 1 bag of 50 kg
MOP potash
27 kg about half a 50 kg bag

Give the DAP and MOP at sowing, and the urea in two or three doses. If your soil card says a nutrient is low, add about a quarter more of it.

ICAR has worked out the dose for 733 districts. Check it on your land above to see yours.

Watch out for

Draft: check with your Krishi Vigyan Kendra
  • Blast
    Disease

    Look for

    Spindle-shaped spots with grey centres and brown edges on leaves; the neck below the ear turns black and ears stay empty.

    What to do first

    Grow a resistant variety and don't overdo urea. If spots spread, spray tricyclazole. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.

  • Bacterial leaf blight
    Disease

    Look for

    Leaves dry from the tip and edges in long yellow-white streaks; drops of milky ooze on leaves in the morning.

    What to do first

    Grow a resistant variety, split the urea and drain the field for a few days. Sprays don't help much.

  • Sheath blight
    Disease

    Look for

    Oval grey-green patches with brown edges on the stem sheath near the water line, climbing up the plant.

    What to do first

    Don't plant too close and split the urea. If it climbs past the middle of the plant, spray hexaconazole or validamycin. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.

  • Stem borer
    Pest

    Look for

    The central shoot dries out in young plants (dead heart); white, empty ears at heading.

    What to do first

    Pull out dead hearts and use pheromone traps. Spray only if many plants are hit; ask your KVK.

  • Brown planthopper
    Pest

    Look for

    Round patches of plants turn yellow, then brown and dry (hopper burn); brown insects crowd at the base of the plants.

    What to do first

    Avoid too much urea, drain the field and leave a 30 cm path every 2 m. Spray at the plant base only when hoppers are many. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.

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

₹11,600

Yield India's average
17.7 quintals of paddy an acre
× Price harvest price last season (Mar–Apr 2026)
₹2,288 a quintal
= Income
₹40,400
− Costs seed, fertiliser, labour and machines, as the government costs them
−₹28,800
= Left
₹11,600

This week rice sells at about ₹2,461 a quintal: India's middle price at 698 mandis, latest 13 Nov. At that price an acre would leave about ₹14,700 a season.

Sold at the support price (MSP, ₹2,441 a quintal) to government procurement, an acre would leave about ₹14,300 a season. Procurement isn't open everywhere: ask at your mandi or agriculture office.

A good year or field earns about a fifth more, a poor one a fifth less: ₹32,300 to ₹48,500 income an acre. Costs stay the same either way.

Work it out for your land

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
October, ₹2,461 a quintal
Lowest
March, ₹2,275 a quintal
₹2,275
₹2,461
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).

Government minimum support price (MSP): ₹2,441 a quintal for 2026-27. Every crop's MSP

Latest prices near Kottayam Today's price across India

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

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
12.5 crore acres
2024-25
Average yield
17.7 quintals of paddy an acre (2.9 tonnes of rice a hectare)
recent years, to 2024-25
Most area
Paschim Medinipur
West Bengal
Best yield
Malerkotla
32 quintals of paddy an acre

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.

8.2% of India's rice area is in these 10 districts

  1. 1 Paschim Medinipur West Bengal 1.2% 14.7 lakh acres
  2. 2 Purba Bardhaman West Bengal 1.1% 13.3 lakh acres
  3. 3 South 24 Parganas West Bengal 0.8% 10.4 lakh acres
  4. 4 Purba Medinipur West Bengal 0.8% 9.7 lakh acres
  5. 5 Bankura West Bengal 0.8% 9.6 lakh acres
  6. 6 Nalgonda Telangana 0.8% 9.5 lakh acres
  7. 7 Birbhum West Bengal 0.7% 8.9 lakh acres
  8. 8 Suryapet Telangana 0.7% 8.9 lakh acres
  9. 9 Bargarh Odisha 0.7% 8.1 lakh acres
  10. 10 Mayurbhanj Odisha 0.7% 8.0 lakh acres

Rice yield, quintals an acre (average of 2020-21 to 2024-25 in most districts)

  1. 1.7–7.7
  2. 7.8–9.5
  3. 9.6–11
  4. 12–13
  5. 14–22
No data

1 Numbers match the list: the districts with the most area.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2020-21 to 2024-25.

Where yields are highest

Districts growing it on at least 100 ha, against the average across India. The line runs from India's average to each district.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2020-21 to 2024-25.

Across India over the years

Yield across India, quintals of paddy an acre

0 5 q 10 q 15 q 20 q
2002-03 2024-25
Latest 18 quintals an acre in 2024-25

Area sown across India, acres

10 crore 11 crore 12 crore 13 crore
2002-03 2024-25
Latest 12.5 crore acres in 2024-25

Years run July to June. Only years in which most of the usual districts reported are shown.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2002-03 to 2024-25.

Soil and yield

How district soil tests line up with this crop's yields across India.

Rice yields tend to be higher in districts with

  • More soil that is alkaline weak 677 districts

Rice yields tend to be lower in districts with

  • More soil that is acidic weak 677 districts

A pattern is not proof that soil causes the difference.

Source: Soil Health Card – soil nutrient analysis (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).