Sweet Orange (Mosambi)

Water

Rain is enough in a normal year. Keep one irrigation ready for a dry year.

Needs about 860 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 950 mm it can use in a normal year, and 770 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 31 °C / 21 °C
• Jul 28 °C / 21 °C
• Aug 27 °C / 20 °C
• Sep 27 °C / 19 °C
• Oct 25 °C / 14 °C (outside its best range)
• Nov 21 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
• Dec 17 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 15 °C / 4 °C (outside its best range)
• Feb 18 °C / 7 °C (outside its best range)
• Mar 23 °C / 11 °C (outside its best range)
• Apr 28 °C / 16 °C
• May 31 °C / 19 °C
• Jun 31 °C / 21 °C

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Nights in December can bring frost. When frost is forecast, water the field lightly in the evening.

Soil

Soil for Sweet Orange (Mosambi): 8 out of 10 (good).

Not in the score: organic carbon, sulphur, manganese and boron.

• Soil here is often more alkaline than it likes.

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.

Mandi price through the year (May 2026, September–October 2026): about ₹5,250 a quintal at mandis in your district.

This week: about ₹4,600 a quintal, the middle of 17 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹1.8 lakh a year after typical costs.

Prices are usually best in May.

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.