Wheat
Sow in November, harvest around March
Sowing time is now.
Grown on 2.3 lakh acres here. Sold at 5 mandis in your district.
₹14,000–₹21,000
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹5,000 to a profit of ₹2,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 5 irrigations short
- Needs care: Very hot in November
- Suits: Soil 9/10
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 32 °C / 16 °C
- Dec 29 °C / 12 °C
- Jan 26 °C / 11 °C
- Feb 30 °C / 14 °C
- Mar 36 °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: 9 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen, sulphur and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of zinc, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of iron.
Likes pH 6.0–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 15 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 ₹2,473 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹2,741 a quintal, the middle of 46 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹368 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹2,610 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹1,850 2021
- ₹2,160 2022
- ₹2,410 2023
- ₹2,610 2024
- ₹2,590 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 16 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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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.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
-
Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Urea 98%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 39%
- Zinc Sulphate Heptahydrate / Monohydrate 35%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 34%