Gram (Chana)
Sow in November, harvest around March
Still sowing time: sow by the end of November.
Grown on 3.9 lakh acres here. Sold at 5 mandis in your district.
₹18,000–₹27,000
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹839 to a profit of ₹8,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 6 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- 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 290 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 10 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 15–29 °C on average, and survives 7–35 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Nov 31 °C / 13 °C
- Dec 27 °C / 9 °C
- Jan 24 °C / 8 °C
- Feb 28 °C / 11 °C
Soil
Soil for Gram (Chana): 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 6.0–8.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 4.4 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).
Mandi price at last season's harvest (March–April 2026): about ₹5,000 a quintal at mandis in your district.
Minimum support price: ₹5,958 a quintal (2027-28), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹4,540 2021
- ₹4,370 2022
- ₹4,660 2023
- ₹6,170 2024
- ₹5,300 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 5.3 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.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 93%
- Urea 28%
- Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) 2%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 0%