Sesame (Til)
Sow in November, harvest around February
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
No figures for this season in your district. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹6,000–₹10,000
per acre a season, before costs
Likely a loss at typical costs: ₹5,000–₹8,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 1 irrigation short
- Needs care: Cool in December
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 1 irrigation (5 cm) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 190 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 140 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 20–30 °C on average, and survives 10–40 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Nov 28 °C / 14 °C
- Dec 23 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 22 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 26 °C / 11 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Sesame (Til): 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 5.5–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 1.2 quintals an acre here in its other seasons (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 77% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 77% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹8,558 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹11,870 a quintal, the middle of 13 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would lose about ₹3,000 a season at typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹10,346 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹8,040 2021
- ₹9,600 2022
- ₹13,320 2023
- ₹11,630 2024
- ₹9,330 2025
Prices are usually best in November.
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.
How to make it work
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 1.7 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
-
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.
About 16% of local fields of this crop get it.
-
Short of organic carbon Your soil is likely short of organic carbon.
Add 4 tonnes of compost or farmyard manure per acre before sowing, and plough crop leftovers back in instead of burning them.
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 16%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 3%