Safflower

Water

Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.

Needs about 390 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 10 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 30 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 34 °C / 19 °C
• Nov 29 °C / 12 °C
• Dec 23 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 20 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
• Feb 24 °C / 10 °C (outside its best range)
• Mar 30 °C / 15 °C

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Soil

Soil for Safflower: 8 out of 10 (good).

Not in the score: nitrogen, copper and boron.

• The pH here suits it.
• Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
• Most fields here are short of phosphorus.
• Most fields here are short of organic carbon.

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 (March–April 2026): about ₹5,081 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.