Urad (Black Gram)
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of December.
Grown on 2.5 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
₹15,000–₹22,000
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹470–₹8,000 an acre a season
- 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 210 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 200 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 / 24 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 19 °C
- Dec 26 °C / 14 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Urad (Black Gram): 9 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 5.5–6.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 2.9 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (your district's own figure looked wrong).
Mandi price at last season's harvest (January–February 2026): about ₹6,320 a quintal across India's mandis.
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 ₹8,000 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹8,200 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹5,930 2021
- ₹5,700 2022
- ₹7,310 2023
- ₹8,230 2024
- ₹6,290 2025
Prices are usually best in October.
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 3.1 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.