Tapioca (Cassava)
Holds the land all year
Grown on 4,638 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Needs care: Warm in June
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 1,080 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 560 mm it can use in a normal year, and 320 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 20–29 °C on average, and survives 10–35 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jun 37 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Jul 36 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- Aug 35 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
- Sep 35 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
- Oct 33 °C / 24 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 23 °C
- Dec 30 °C / 21 °C
- Jan 31 °C / 21 °C
- Feb 33 °C / 21 °C
- Mar 36 °C / 24 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 37 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
- May 38 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
- Jun 37 °C / 26 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Tapioca (Cassava): 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of zinc.
Likes pH 5.5–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 119 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
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 through the year (December 2025–November 2026): about ₹3,125 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹3,750 a quintal, the middle of 7 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
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 170 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of nitrogen Your soil is likely short of nitrogen.
Add about a quarter more urea than the usual dose, in two or three splits. A pulse crop in rotation also adds nitrogen.
About 99% of local fields of this crop get it.
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Short of organic carbon Your soil is likely short of organic carbon.
Add 4 tonnes of compost or farmyard manure per acre before sowing, and plough crop leftovers back in instead of burning them.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
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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.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
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Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
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Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Urea 99%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 98%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 1%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 0%