Bajra (Pearl Millet)

A monsoon crop. Sow in Jun–Jul, harvest in Sep–Oct.

Check it on your land
Season
Kharif
JJASONDJFMAM
94% of its area.
Ready in
85 days
about 3 months
Water
300–310 mm
over its season
Temperature
25–35 °C
0° survives 12–40 °C 40°

When to sow and harvest

Kharif 94% of its area
Today
J J A S O N D J F M A M
Sow Growing Harvest
The year starts in June, with the monsoon. Your district can shift a few weeks.

Will it grow on your land?

Water
Season

Pick your place and water to see:

  • Whether Bajra (Pearl Millet) suits your land Good fit, possible or won't work, with the reasons.
  • What it could earn an acre From yields near you and mandi prices.
  • Water and fertiliser it needs Irrigations for your water, and bags for one acre.

What it needs

Temperature

25–35 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 12–40 °C. Frost hurts it.

Water

300–310 mm over its season

Rain and irrigation together, worked out where most of it grows:

Barmer Jodhpur Jalore Balotra Jaipur

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes slightly acidic soil. Grows from pH 4.5 to 8.3.

Soil

  • Takes a little salt
  • Ordinary farm soil is fine
  • N Needs plenty of nitrogen and zinc
How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°).

Fertiliser for one acre

Draft: check with your KVK
Urea nitrogen
57 kg 1½ bags of 45 kg
DAP phosphate
35 kg half a bag of 50 kg
MOP potash
27 kg half a bag of 50 kg

Rain-fed: N 16, P₂O₅ 8, K₂O 0 kg an acre

Give the DAP and MOP at sowing, and the urea in two or three doses. If your soil card says a nutrient is low, add about a quarter more of it.

Watch out for

Draft: check with your KVK
  • Downy mildew (green ear)
    Disease

    Look for

    Yellow leaves with white down underneath; ears turn into leafy green growths.

    What to do first

    Grow a resistant hybrid, treat seed with metalaxyl and pull out sick plants. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.

  • Ergot
    Disease

    Look for

    Sticky honey-like drops on the ears, later hard black bodies in place of grain.

    What to do first

    Clean the seed by floating off the ergot bodies in salt water; sow early.

  • Shoot fly
    Pest

    Look for

    The central shoot dries out in young plants.

    What to do first

    Sow early with the first rains and use a little more seed.

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
November, ₹2,237
Lowest
September, ₹2,023
₹2,023
₹2,237
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis.

Government minimum support price (MSP): ₹2,900 a quintal for 2026-27.

Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
73,38,984 ha
2024-25
Average yield
1.5 t/ha
2024-25
Most area
Barmer
Rajasthan
Best yield
Cuddalore
3.8 t/ha

Districts with the most area (recent figures)

The map colours each district by yield, for districts growing it on at least 100 ha.

  1. Barmer, Rajasthan 9,18,642 ha
  2. Jodhpur, Rajasthan 3,99,397 ha
  3. Jalore, Rajasthan 3,49,479 ha
  4. Balotra, Rajasthan 3,10,556 ha
  5. Jaipur, Rajasthan 2,93,363 ha
  6. Banas Kantha, Gujarat 2,82,011 ha
  7. Alwar, Rajasthan 2,77,737 ha
  8. Nagaur, Rajasthan 2,68,142 ha
  9. Sikar, Rajasthan 2,54,174 ha
  10. Morena, Madhya Pradesh 2,15,617 ha

Bajra (Pearl Millet) yield

  1. 0.3–1.0 t/ha
  2. 1.0–1.3 t/ha
  3. 1.3–1.9 t/ha
  4. 1.9–2.5 t/ha
  5. 2.5–3.8 t/ha
No data

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2018-19 to 2024-25.

Where yields are highest

  1. Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu 3.8 t/ha
  2. Gir Somnath, Gujarat 3.4 t/ha
  3. Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh 3.3 t/ha
  4. Viluppuram, Tamil Nadu 3.2 t/ha
  5. Vellore, Tamil Nadu 3.2 t/ha
  6. Ariyalur, Tamil Nadu 3.2 t/ha
  7. Tirupathur, Tamil Nadu 3.1 t/ha
  8. Arvalli, Gujarat 3.1 t/ha
  9. Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu 3.1 t/ha
  10. Anand, Gujarat 3.0 t/ha

Only districts growing it on at least 100 ha.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2018-19 to 2024-25.

Across India over the years

Yield (t/ha)

1.2 1.4 1.7
2018-19 2024-25
Latest 1.5 t/ha in 2024-25

Area (ha)

7.2M 7.4M 7.7M
2018-19 2024-25
Latest 73,38,984 ha in 2024-25

Only years in which most of the usual districts reported are shown.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2018-19 to 2024-25.

Soil and yield

How district soil tests line up with this crop's yields across India.

Bajra (Pearl Millet) yields tend to be higher in districts with

  • More soil that is salty weak 273 districts
  • More soil low in nitrogen weak 257 districts

A pattern is not proof that soil causes the difference.

Source: Soil Health Card – soil nutrient analysis (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).