Sunflower
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 207 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹14,000–₹21,000
per acre a season, before costs
Likely a loss at typical costs: ₹2,000–₹9,000 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 290 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 30 mm it can use in a normal year (10 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):
- Oct 28 °C / 19 °C
- Nov 29 °C / 17 °C
- Dec 29 °C / 15 °C
- Jan 29 °C / 15 °C
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 worksMoney
Yield: about 4.0 quintals an acre here (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 (January–February 2026): about ₹5,433 a quintal across mandis in your state.
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 ₹43 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹8,343 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹5,250 2021
- ₹5,380 2022
- ₹4,200 2023
- ₹4,020 2024
- ₹4,770 2025
Prices are usually best in November.
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.
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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 100% of local fields of this crop get it.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Nitro Phosphate Potash 100%
- Urea 100%