Tapioca (Cassava)
Holds the land all year
Grown on 3,165 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
₹3.6 lakh–₹5.4 lakh
per acre a year, before costs
After typical costs: ₹1.1 lakh–₹2.9 lakh an acre a year
- Suits: Rain is enough
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain is enough, even in a dry year.
Needs about 790 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 2,660 mm it can use in a normal year, and 2,070 mm in a dry year.
Heavy rain here can waterlog it. Grow it on raised beds or land that drains well.
Temperature
Grows best at 20–29 °C on average, and survives 10–35 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jun 29 °C / 23 °C
- Jul 29 °C / 24 °C
- Aug 30 °C / 24 °C
- Sep 30 °C / 23 °C
- Oct 29 °C / 21 °C
- Nov 26 °C / 16 °C
- Dec 23 °C / 13 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 22 °C / 11 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 25 °C / 13 °C (outside its best range)
- Mar 29 °C / 17 °C
- Apr 30 °C / 20 °C
- May 30 °C / 22 °C
- Jun 29 °C / 23 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Tapioca (Cassava): 9 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: sulphur.
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of phosphorus.
- Most fields here are short of zinc.
Likes pH 5.5–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 149 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (your district's own figure looked wrong).
Mandi price through the year (December 2025–November 2026): about ₹3,000 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹3,500 a quintal, the middle of 71 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹2.8 lakh a year after typical costs.
- ₹1,680 2021
- ₹3,000 2022
- ₹3,100 2023
- ₹3,000 2024
- ₹3,000 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in September.
Typical costs are about ₹2.4 lakh an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.
How to make it work
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 26 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of phosphorus Your soil is likely short of phosphorus.
Add about a quarter more DAP or single super phosphate than the usual dose, at sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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Short of zinc Your soil is likely short of zinc.
Mix 10 kg of zinc sulphate per acre into the soil before sowing. One dose lasts two or three seasons.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.