Wheat
Sow in November, harvest around March
Sowing time is now.
Grown on 1.2 lakh acres here. Sold at 7 mandis in your district.
₹5,000–₹7,000
per acre a season, before costs
Likely a loss at typical costs: ₹12,000–₹14,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 6 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 6 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 460 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 10 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 190 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 / 16 °C
- Dec 28 °C / 13 °C
- Jan 28 °C / 13 °C
- Feb 31 °C / 16 °C
- Mar 36 °C / 20 °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).
Not in the score: boron.
- 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 iron.
Likes pH 6.0–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 6.1 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 44% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 44% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (March–April 2026): about ₹2,150 a quintal at mandis in your district.
This week: about ₹2,530 a quintal, the middle of 3 mandis in your state (latest 12 Nov). At that price an acre would lose about ₹12,000 a season at typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹2,610 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹1,580 2021
- ₹2,000 2022
- ₹2,000 2023
- ₹2,180 2024
- ₹2,400 2025
Prices are usually best in December.
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 93% 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.
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 93%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 86%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 38%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 9%