Wheat
Sow in November, harvest around March
Sowing time is now.
Grown on 4.3 acres here. Sold at 2 mandis in your district.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Needs care: Very hot in March
- 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 480 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 30 mm it can use in a normal year (10 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 0 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 27 °C / 18 °C
- Dec 27 °C / 16 °C
- Jan 28 °C / 16 °C
- Feb 31 °C / 17 °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: 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 5.3 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 2026): about ₹2,883 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹3,653 a quintal, the middle of 14 mandis in your state (latest 12 Nov).
Minimum support price: ₹2,610 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
Prices are usually best in August.
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.
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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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.