Safflower

Water

Rain falls about 4 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.

Needs about 560 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 200 mm it can use in a normal year (130 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 21 °C / 10 °C (outside its best range)
• Nov 17 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
• Dec 14 °C / 4 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 12 °C / 2 °C (outside its best range)
• Feb 15 °C / 4 °C (outside its best range)
• Mar 19 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
• Apr 25 °C / 11 °C (outside its best range)
• May 27 °C / 13 °C
• Jun 27 °C / 14 °C

Soil

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

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

Likes pH 6.5–7.5.

Money

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

On rain alone it gets about 72% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 72% of this yield.

Mandi price at last season's harvest (June–July 2026): about ₹5,147 a quintal across India's mandis.

This week: about ₹6,080 a quintal, the middle of 12 mandis across India (latest 12 Nov). At that price an acre would lose about ₹1,000 a season at typical costs.

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.