Wheat
Sow in November, harvest around March
Sowing time is now.
Grown on 34 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Doesn't suit: Too hot in february
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 510 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 0 mm it can use in a normal year, and 0 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 15–25 °C on average, and survives 5–27 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Nov 31 °C / 21 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 30 °C / 19 °C
- Jan 32 °C / 19 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 34 °C / 20 °C (outside its best range)
- Mar 37 °C / 23 °C (outside its best range)
Days in February 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 4.9 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (your district's own figure looked wrong).
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 ₹2,377 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹2,724 a quintal, the middle of 497 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).
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 18 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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.