Tobacco

Water

Rain falls about 4 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.

Needs about 390 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 90 mm it can use in a normal year (50 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 140 mm from the monsoon at sowing.

Temperature

Grows best at 15–30 °C on average, and survives 7–35 °C.

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

• Oct 32 °C / 24 °C
• Nov 31 °C / 22 °C
• Dec 30 °C / 19 °C
• Jan 30 °C / 19 °C
• Feb 32 °C / 21 °C

Soil

Soil for Tobacco: 8 out of 10 (good).

• The pH here suits it.
• Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
• Most fields here are short of zinc.
• Most fields here are short of boron.

Likes pH 5.0–6.5.

Money

Yield: about 12 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).

On rain alone it gets about 59% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 59% of this yield.

Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹3,978 a quintal across India's mandis.

This week: about ₹2,300 a quintal, the middle of 7 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would lose about ₹7,000 a season at typical costs.

Prices are usually best in December.

Typical costs are about ₹23,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2022–2026), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.