Wheat
Sow in October, harvest around May
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 13,730 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
₹16,000–₹23,000
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹3,000 to a profit of ₹5,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 4 irrigations short
- Needs care: Cool in November
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 4 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 420 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 150 mm it can use in a normal year (70 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 90 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):
- Oct 21 °C / 11 °C
- Nov 17 °C / 6 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 14 °C / 3 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 11 °C / 2 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 13 °C / 4 °C (outside its best range)
- Mar 18 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
- Apr 23 °C / 12 °C
- May 26 °C / 15 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Wheat: 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: sulphur and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 6.0–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 8.0 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
Mandi price at last season's harvest (May–June 2026): about ₹2,425 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹2,724 a quintal, the middle of 497 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹3,000 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹2,610 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹1,820 2021
- ₹2,060 2022
- ₹2,330 2023
- ₹2,480 2024
- ₹2,530 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 8.1 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 24% of local fields of this crop get it.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Urea 24%
- Nitro Phosphate Potash 3%
- NPK Mixture 1%
- Calcium Ammonium Nitrate 0%