Sunflower

A monsoon crop. Sow in Jun–Jul, harvest in Sep–Oct.

Check it on your land
Season
Kharif
JJASONDJFMAM

Sowing Growing Harvest

52% of its area. Also grown in rabi, summer.
Ready in
95 days
about 3 months
Water
310–340 mm
of water over its season (rain plus irrigation)
Grows best at
17–34 °C
0 °C survives 5–45 °C 40 °C

When to sow and harvest

Kharif 52% of its area
Rabi 42% of its area
Summer 6% of its area
Today: rabi sowing time
J J A S O N D J F M A M
Sow Growing Harvest
The year starts in June, with the monsoon. Your district can shift a few weeks.

Sowing Growing Harvest

Will it grow on your land?

Supaul Bihar
Water
Season

Possible in Supaul, with effort

Sunflower

JJASONDJFMAM

Sow in November, harvest around February

Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.

Grown on 5,917 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.

₹30,000–₹45,000

per acre a season, before costs

After typical costs: ₹7,000–₹22,000 an acre a season

  • Needs care: Risky: 1 irrigation short
  • Suits: Ideal temperatures
  • Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work

Water

Rain falls about 1 irrigation (5 cm) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.

Needs about 220 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 17–34 °C on average, and survives 5–45 °C.

Here, in its growing months (day / night):

  • Nov 29 °C / 16 °C
  • Dec 25 °C / 11 °C
  • Jan 23 °C / 10 °C (outside its best range)
  • Feb 26 °C / 12 °C

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Soil

Soil for Sunflower: 9 out of 10 (good).

  • The pH here suits it.
  • Most fields here are short of nitrogen.

Likes pH 6.0–7.5.

How the soil score works

Money

Yield: about 5.7 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).

Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹6,632 a quintal across India's mandis.

This week: about ₹7,283 a quintal, the middle of 20 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹18,000 a season after typical costs.

Minimum support price: ₹8,343 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.

Average mandi price each year (₹ a quintal):
  1. ₹5,570 2021
  2. ₹5,590 2022
  3. ₹4,440 2023
  4. ₹4,340 2024
  5. ₹4,960 2025

Prices are usually best in August.

Typical costs are about ₹23,000 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 5.7 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 49% of local fields of this crop get it.

What local farmers put on it (share of fields):

  • Urea 49%
  • Muriate of Potash (MOP) 18%
  • Calcium Ammonium Nitrate 3%
See every crop that suits Supaul

What it needs

Temperature

17–34 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 5–45 °C.

Water

310–340 mm over its season

Rain and irrigation together, worked out where most of it grows:

Bagalkote Raichur Vijayapura Chamarajanagar Koppal

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes neutral soil. Grows from pH 5.5 to 8.

Soil

  • No salty soil
  • Needs rich soil
  • S Needs plenty of sulphur and boron
How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°); TerraClimate 1991–2020 temperature normals (about 4 km), where each district's villages are.

Fertiliser for one acre

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra for the dose.

Watch out for

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to watch for.

What an acre earns

At India's average yield and a recent price, named below. Your land, water and mandi will differ.

Left an acre, a season

₹3,300

Yield India's average
4.2 quintals an acre
× Price harvest price last season (Jan–Feb 2026)
₹6,349 a quintal
= Income
₹26,600
− Costs seed, fertiliser, labour and machines, as the government costs them
−₹23,300
= Left
₹3,300

This week sunflower sells at about ₹7,283 a quintal: India's middle price at 20 mandis, latest 13 Nov. At that price an acre would leave about ₹7,200 a season.

Sold at the support price (MSP, ₹8,343 a quintal) to government procurement, an acre would leave about ₹11,600 a season. Procurement isn't open everywhere: ask at your mandi or agriculture office.

A good year or field earns about a fifth more, a poor one a fifth less: ₹21,300 to ₹31,900 income an acre. Costs stay the same either way.

Work it out for your land

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
August, ₹7,925 a quintal
Lowest
December, ₹5,600 a quintal
₹7,925
₹5,600
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis: each month's latest price (Dec 2025–May 2026, Jul–Nov 2026).

Government minimum support price (MSP): ₹8,343 a quintal for 2026-27. Every crop's MSP

Latest prices near Supaul Today's price across India

Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
4.2 lakh acres
2024-25
Average yield
4.2 quintals an acre (1.0 tonnes a hectare)
recent years, to 2024-25
Most area
Gadag
Karnataka
Best yield
Shivamogga
9.7 quintals an acre

Where it grows most

The districts with the most area in recent years. The map colours every district growing it on at least 100 ha by yield; the numbers mark these districts.

58% of India's sunflower area is in these 10 districts

  1. 1 Gadag Karnataka 8.2% 45,188 acres
  2. 2 Bagalkote Karnataka 7.9% 43,733 acres
  3. 3 Raichur Karnataka 6.8% 37,493 acres
  4. 4 Vijayapura Karnataka 6.1% 33,626 acres
  5. 5 Koppal Karnataka 6.1% 33,548 acres
  6. 6 Chamarajanagar Karnataka 6.0% 33,219 acres
  7. 7 Belagavi Karnataka 5.6% 30,939 acres
  8. 8 Kurukshetra Haryana 4.8% 26,331 acres
  9. 9 Haveri Karnataka 3.8% 21,186 acres
  10. 10 Vijayanagara Karnataka 3.2% 17,625 acres

Sunflower yield, quintals an acre (average of 2020-21 to 2024-25 in most districts)

  1. 1.6–2.7
  2. 2.8–3.8
  3. 3.9–4.8
  4. 5.0–6.2
  5. 6.3–9.7
No data

1 Numbers match the list: the districts with the most area.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2020-21 to 2024-25.

Where yields are highest

Districts growing it on at least 100 ha, against the average across India. The line runs from India's average to each district.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2020-21 to 2024-25.

Across India over the years

Yield across India, quintals an acre

0 2 q 4 q 6 q
1998-99 2024-25
Latest 4.9 quintals an acre in 2024-25

Area sown across India, acres

0 20 lakh 40 lakh 60 lakh
1998-99 2024-25
Latest 4.2 lakh acres in 2024-25

Years run July to June. Only years in which most of the usual districts reported are shown.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 1998-99 to 2024-25.

Soil and yield

How district soil tests line up with this crop's yields across India.

Sunflower yields tend to be higher in districts with

  • More soil that is neutral weak 127 districts
  • More soil high in phosphorus weak 124 districts

Sunflower yields tend to be lower in districts with

  • More soil short of zinc weak 127 districts
  • More soil short of sulphur weak 127 districts

A pattern is not proof that soil causes the difference.

Source: Soil Health Card – soil nutrient analysis (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).