Sweet Orange (Mosambi)

Water

Rain falls about 7 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.

Needs about 1,100 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 780 mm it can use in a normal year, and 580 mm in a dry year.

Temperature

Grows best at 20–30 °C on average, and survives 13–38 °C.

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

• Jun 37 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
• Jul 33 °C / 26 °C
• Aug 33 °C / 26 °C
• Sep 33 °C / 25 °C
• Oct 32 °C / 21 °C
• Nov 28 °C / 14 °C
• Dec 24 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 22 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
• Feb 26 °C / 11 °C (outside its best range)
• Mar 32 °C / 16 °C
• Apr 38 °C / 21 °C
• May 39 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
• Jun 37 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Soil

Soil for Sweet Orange (Mosambi): 6 out of 10 (okay).

• Soil here is often more alkaline than it likes.
• Many fields here are short of boron, which it needs a lot.
• Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
• Most fields here are short of organic carbon.

Likes pH 5.0–6.0.

Money

Yield: about 67 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).

A new planting gives its first real harvest after about 4 years. The money here is for plants already bearing.

On rain alone it gets about 71% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 71% of this yield.

Mandi price through the year (February 2025–January 2026): about ₹3,600 a quintal at mandis in your district.

This week: about ₹3,580 a quintal, the middle of 123 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹46,000 a year after typical costs.

Prices are usually best in August.

Typical costs are about ₹1.3 lakh an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.