Wheat
Sow in November, harvest around March
Sowing time is now.
Grown on 6.2 lakh acres here. Sold at 16 mandis in your district.
₹13,000–₹20,000
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹5,000 to a profit of ₹1,000 an acre a season
- 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 440 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 200 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 31 °C / 15 °C
- Dec 28 °C / 12 °C
- Jan 26 °C / 12 °C
- Feb 30 °C / 15 °C
- Mar 35 °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.
- 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 16 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 46% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 46% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (March–April 2026): about ₹2,323 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹2,771 a quintal, the middle of 6 mandis in your district (latest 12 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹1,000 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹2,610 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹1,760 2021
- ₹2,080 2022
- ₹2,350 2023
- ₹2,510 2024
- ₹2,520 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.
-
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 94% of local fields of this crop get it.
-
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.
About 23% of local fields of this crop get it.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Urea 94%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 66%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 35%
- Zinc Sulphate Heptahydrate / Monohydrate 23%