Sunflower

Water

Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.

Needs about 400 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 120 mm it can use in a normal year, and 80 mm in a dry year.

Temperature

Grows best at 17–34 °C on average, and survives 5–45 °C.

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

• Jun 40 °C / 27 °C
• Jul 36 °C / 27 °C
• Aug 35 °C / 26 °C
• Sep 35 °C / 24 °C

Soil

Soil for Sunflower: 7 out of 10 (okay).

Not in the score: nitrogen.

• The pH here suits it.
• Many fields here are short of boron, which it needs a lot.
• Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
• Most fields here are short of zinc.

Likes pH 6.0–7.5.

Money

Yield: about 7.4 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 ₹7,446 a quintal across India's mandis.

This week: about ₹7,283 a quintal, the middle of 20 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).

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

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.