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.
₹9,000–₹13,000
per acre a season, before costs
Likely a loss at typical costs: ₹2,000–₹6,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 2 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 2 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 250 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 0 mm it can use in a normal year (0 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):
- Nov 32 °C / 16 °C
- Dec 29 °C / 12 °C
- Jan 26 °C / 11 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 30 °C / 14 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Sesame (Til): 9 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen, sulphur and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of iron.
Likes pH 5.5–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 1.6 quintals an acre here in its other seasons (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 79% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 79% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹8,466 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹14,500 a quintal, the middle of 15 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹4,000 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹10,346 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹7,930 2021
- ₹9,350 2022
- ₹13,120 2023
- ₹11,340 2024
- ₹8,780 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 3.4 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
-
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.
-
Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
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 62%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 8%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 3%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 2%