Tur (Arhar)
Sow in October, harvest around April
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 534 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 550 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 50 mm it can use in a normal year (10 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 170 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 18–38 °C on average, and survives 10–45 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 32 °C / 24 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 17 °C
- Dec 26 °C / 13 °C
- Jan 25 °C / 11 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 28 °C / 14 °C
- Mar 33 °C / 19 °C
- Apr 37 °C / 23 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Tur (Arhar): 9 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Low nitrogen matters less: it makes its own.
- Most fields here are short of boron.
Likes pH 6.0–7.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 5.8 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (your district's own figure looked wrong).
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 at last season's harvest (April–May 2026): about ₹7,074 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹9,531 a quintal, the middle of 101 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).
Minimum support price: ₹8,450 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹5,740 2021
- ₹5,750 2022
- ₹8,120 2023
- ₹9,380 2024
- ₹6,260 2025
Prices are usually best in November.
Typical costs are about ₹19,000 an acre (seed, fertiliser, labour and hired machines, from the government's cost survey). They are spent whatever the harvest.
How to make it work
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 3.8 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.