Urad (Black Gram)
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of December.
Grown on 1,275 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
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 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 250 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 50 mm it can use in a normal year (20 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 0 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 / 23 °C
- Nov 31 °C / 21 °C
- Dec 30 °C / 19 °C
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.
Likes pH 5.5–6.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 5.0 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
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 (January–February 2026): about ₹7,920 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹9,000 a quintal, the middle of 12 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
Minimum support price: ₹8,200 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹5,290 2022
- ₹7,080 2023
- ₹8,750 2024
- ₹6,870 2025
Prices are usually best in November.
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 2.7 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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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.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- NPK Mixture 48%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 44%
- Urea 21%