Sunflower

Water

Rain falls about 2 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.

Needs about 300 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 180 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 33 °C / 22 °C
• Nov 31 °C / 18 °C
• Dec 30 °C / 15 °C
• Jan 31 °C / 15 °C

Soil

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

Not in the score: zinc, iron, copper and manganese.

• The pH here suits it.
• Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
• Many fields here are short of boron, which it needs a lot.

Likes pH 6.0–7.5.

Money

Yield: about 7.0 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 (January–February 2026): about ₹6,349 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.