Sesame (Til)
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 176 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹21,000–₹32,000
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹7,000–₹17,000 an acre a season
- Suits: Rain is enough
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain is enough, even in a dry year.
Needs about 210 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 50 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 20–30 °C on average, and survives 10–40 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 32 °C / 23 °C
- Nov 29 °C / 18 °C
- Dec 26 °C / 15 °C
- Jan 24 °C / 12 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Sesame (Til): 9 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: sulphur.
- The pH here suits it, though not most crops.
- Most fields here are short of phosphorus.
Likes pH 5.5–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 3.9 quintals an acre here (district figures).
Mandi price at last season's harvest (January–February 2026): about ₹6,750 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹14,050 a quintal, the middle of 81 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹40,000 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹10,346 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹5,900 2021
- ₹6,400 2022
- ₹8,600 2023
- ₹8,700 2024
- ₹6,250 2025
Prices are usually best in January.
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 3.7 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of phosphorus Your soil is likely short of phosphorus.
Add about a quarter more DAP or single super phosphate than the usual dose, at 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%