Wheat
Sow in November, harvest around March
Sowing time is now.
Grown on 4.2 lakh acres here. Sold at 8 mandis in your district.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 7 irrigations short
- Needs care: Very hot in November
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 7 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 490 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 32 °C / 16 °C
- Dec 30 °C / 13 °C
- Jan 29 °C / 12 °C
- Feb 33 °C / 15 °C
- Mar 37 °C / 19 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Days in November 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.
- Many fields here are short of zinc, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 6.0–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 10 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–April 2026): about ₹2,229 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹2,853 a quintal, the middle of 4 mandis in your district (latest 13 Nov).
Minimum support price: ₹2,610 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹1,780 2021
- ₹2,110 2022
- ₹2,370 2023
- ₹2,570 2024
- ₹2,510 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 14 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 99% of local fields of this crop get it.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Urea 99%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 58%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 27%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 12%