Urad (Black Gram)
Sow in December, harvest around March
Still sowing time: sow by the end of December.
No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop. 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
- Doesn't suit: Too cold here in this season
- 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 180 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 0 mm it can use in a normal year, and 0 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 22–35 °C on average, and survives 8–40 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Dec 24 °C / 7 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 20 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 25 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
Nights in December can bring frost while the plants are young. Sow a little later, or cover the seedlings on cold nights.
Soil
Soil for Urad (Black Gram): 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of iron.
Likes pH 5.5–6.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 1.9 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 (March–April 2026): about ₹6,408 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹7,728 a quintal, the middle of 184 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).
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 3.7 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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.