Sesame (Til)
Sow in June, harvest around September
This season's sowing time (June–July) is over.
Grown on 12 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 4 irrigations short
- Needs care: Warm in June
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 4 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 370 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 220 mm it can use in a normal year, and 140 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 39 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
- Jul 35 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
- Aug 34 °C / 26 °C
- Sep 33 °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.
- The pH here suits it.
- Salt in the soil here can harm it.
- Many fields here are short of boron, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 5.5–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 2.3 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (your district's own figure looked wrong).
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
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 4.2 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.