Wheat
Sow in November, harvest around March
Sowing time is now.
Grown on 2.7 lakh acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 5 irrigations short
- Needs care: Very hot in March
- Suits: Soil 8/10
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 380 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 / 11 °C
- Jan 23 °C / 10 °C
- Feb 28 °C / 13 °C
- Mar 34 °C / 19 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Days in March get hotter than it likes. Time sowing so it flowers before then.
Soil
Soil for Wheat: 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of sulphur.
Likes pH 6.0–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 13 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 (March 2026): about ₹2,480 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹2,650 a quintal, the middle of 5 mandis in your state (latest 10 Nov).
Minimum support price: ₹2,610 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹2,150 2022
- ₹2,340 2023
- ₹2,500 2024
- ₹2,680 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 15 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.
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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.
About 11% of local fields of this crop get it.
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Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
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 94%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 50%
- Zinc Sulphate Heptahydrate / Monohydrate 11%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 6%