Safflower

Water

Rain falls about 3 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.

Needs about 420 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 90 mm it can use in a normal year (30 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 200 mm from the monsoon at sowing.

Temperature

Grows best at 20–32 °C on average, and survives 5–45 °C.

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

• Oct 25 °C / 14 °C (outside its best range)
• Nov 21 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
• Dec 17 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 15 °C / 4 °C (outside its best range)
• Feb 18 °C / 7 °C (outside its best range)
• Mar 23 °C / 11 °C (outside its best range)
• Apr 28 °C / 16 °C

Soil

Soil for Safflower: 10 out of 10 (good).

Not in the score: organic carbon, sulphur, manganese and boron.

• The pH here suits it.

Likes pH 6.5–7.5.

Money

Yield: about 3.1 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).

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 (May–June 2026): about ₹5,172 a quintal across India's mandis.

This week: about ₹6,080 a quintal, the middle of 12 mandis across India (latest 12 Nov).

Minimum support price: ₹7,215 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.

Prices are usually best in December.

Typical costs are about ₹15,000 an acre (seed, fertiliser, labour and hired machines, from the government's cost survey). They are spent whatever the harvest.