Urad (Black Gram)
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of December.
No figures for this season in your district. Priced from mandis across your state.
₹20,000–₹30,000
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹6,000–₹16,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 1 irrigation short
- Needs care: Cool in November
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 1 irrigation (5 cm) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 190 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 0 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 140 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 22–35 °C on average, and survives 8–40 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 32 °C / 19 °C
- Nov 28 °C / 13 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 23 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Urad (Black Gram): 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Low nitrogen matters less: it makes its own.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of boron.
Likes pH 5.5–6.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 4.2 quintals an acre here in its other seasons (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 75% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 75% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (January–February 2026): about ₹8,101 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹7,728 a quintal, the middle of 184 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹10,000 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹8,200 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹7,590 2021
- ₹7,450 2022
- ₹8,310 2023
- ₹9,020 2024
- ₹8,800 2025
Prices are usually best in January.
Typical costs are about ₹14,000 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 3.0 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
-
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.
-
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 72%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 18%
- Ammonium Chloride 4%
- NPK Mixture 3%