Wheat
Sow in November, harvest around March
Sowing time is now.
Grown on 3.4 lakh acres here. Sold at 6 mandis in your district.
₹12,000–₹18,000
per acre a season, before costs
Likely a loss at typical costs: ₹241–₹6,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 5 irrigations short
- Needs care: Very hot in March
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 5 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 370 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 150 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 15–25 °C on average, and survives 5–27 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Nov 29 °C / 15 °C
- Dec 25 °C / 10 °C
- Jan 22 °C / 9 °C
- Feb 27 °C / 12 °C
- Mar 33 °C / 17 °C
Days in March get hotter than it likes. Time sowing so it flowers before then.
Soil
Soil for Wheat: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Many fields here are short of zinc, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 15 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 41% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 41% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (March–April 2026): about ₹2,575 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹2,600 a quintal, the middle of 106 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: ₹2,610 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹1,830 2021
- ₹2,040 2022
- ₹2,340 2023
- ₹2,480 2024
- ₹2,560 2025
Prices are usually best in November.
Typical costs are about ₹19,000 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 16 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of nitrogen Your soil is likely short of nitrogen.
Add about a quarter more urea than the usual dose, in two or three splits. A pulse crop in rotation also adds nitrogen.
About 86% of local fields of this crop get it.
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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.
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Short of sulphur Your soil is likely short of sulphur.
Use single super phosphate instead of DAP, or add about 100 kg of gypsum per acre before sowing.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
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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.
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):
- Urea 86%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 44%
- Zinc Sulphate Heptahydrate / Monohydrate 8%
- Calcium Ammonium Nitrate 5%