Sesame (Til)
Sow in June, harvest around September
This season's sowing time (June–July) is over.
No recent figures for your district. Priced from mandis across India.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Needs care: Warm in June
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 410 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 110 mm it can use in a normal year, and 70 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 20–30 °C on average, and survives 10–40 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jun 41 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
- Jul 37 °C / 28 °C (outside its best range)
- Aug 36 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
- Sep 34 °C / 24 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Sesame (Til): 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of phosphorus.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of manganese.
Likes pH 5.5–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 3.0 quintals an acre here (older figures, 2017-18).
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 (September–October 2026): about ₹12,500 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹14,050 a quintal, the middle of 81 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).
Minimum support price: ₹10,346 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹7,840 2021
- ₹9,550 2022
- ₹13,310 2023
- ₹11,590 2024
- ₹8,860 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
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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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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Short of manganese Your soil is likely short of manganese.
Spray manganese sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, on the young crop.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.