Urad (Black Gram)
Sow in November, harvest around February
Sowing time is now.
No figures for this season in your district. Sold at 4 mandis in your district.
₹12,000–₹18,000
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹2,000 to a profit of ₹4,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 1 irrigation short
- Needs care: Cool in December
- Suits: Soil 9/10
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 230 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 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):
- Nov 32 °C / 14 °C
- Dec 29 °C / 11 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 27 °C / 9 °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.
- Low nitrogen matters less: it makes its own.
Likes pH 5.5–6.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 2.3 quintals an acre here in its other seasons (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 86% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 86% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹7,615 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹7,143 a quintal, the middle of 94 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would lose about ₹31 a season at typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹8,200 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹5,200 2021
- ₹4,130 2022
- ₹6,500 2023
- ₹6,000 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 2.4 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 76%
- Urea 67%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 8%