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.
₹8,000–₹12,000
per acre a season, before costs
Likely a loss at typical costs: ₹3,000–₹6,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 2 irrigations short
- Needs care: Cool in November
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 2 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 220 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 160 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 / 20 °C
- Nov 29 °C / 14 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 25 °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.
- Most fields here are short of zinc.
- Most fields here are short of iron.
Likes pH 5.5–6.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 2.1 quintals an acre here in its other seasons (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 72% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 72% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (January–February 2026): about ₹6,464 a quintal across mandis in your state.
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 ₹3,000 a season at typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹8,200 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹4,950 2021
- ₹4,420 2022
- ₹6,000 2023
- ₹5,650 2025
Prices are usually best in July.
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 2.3 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of zinc Your soil is likely short of zinc.
Mix 10 kg of zinc sulphate per acre into the soil before sowing. One dose lasts two or three seasons.
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.