Urad (Black Gram)

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

Check it on your land
Season
Kharif
JJASONDJFMAM
74% of its area. Also grown in rabi.
Ready in
80 days
about 2½ months
Water
280–300 mm
over its season
Temperature
22–35 °C
0° survives 8–40 °C 40°

When to sow and harvest

Kharif 74% of its area
Rabi 22% of its area
Today: rabi sowing time
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 Urad (Black Gram) 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

22–35 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 8–40 °C.

Water

280–300 mm over its season

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

Lalitpur Chhatarpur Sagar Damoh Tikamgarh

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes slightly acidic soil. Grows from pH 4.5 to 7.5.

Soil

  • Takes a little salt
  • Needs rich soil
  • N Makes its own nitrogen
  • P Needs plenty of phosphorus and sulphur
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
4 kg half a bag of 45 kg
DAP phosphate
35 kg half a bag of 50 kg
MOP potash
13 kg half a bag of 50 kg

Sulphur 20 kg/ha

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
  • Yellow mosaic
    Disease

    Look for

    Yellow patches on the leaves; spread by whitefly.

    What to do first

    Grow a resistant variety, pull out sick plants early and control whitefly.

  • Leaf crinkle
    Disease

    Look for

    Leaves grow large, thick and crinkled.

    What to do first

    Use healthy seed and pull out sick plants.

  • Pod borer
    Pest

    Look for

    Holes in pods with caterpillars feeding inside.

    What to do first

    Use pheromone traps and bird perches; spray when caterpillars are many. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
May, ₹6,726
Lowest
November, ₹6,150
₹6,726
₹6,150
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): ₹8,200 a quintal for 2026-27.

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

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
29,83,922 ha
2024-25
Average yield
0.7 t/ha
2024-25
Most area
Lalitpur
Uttar Pradesh
Best yield
Wanaparthy
1.8 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. Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh 1,76,739 ha
  2. Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh 1,59,679 ha
  3. Sagar, Madhya Pradesh 1,37,444 ha
  4. Damoh, Madhya Pradesh 1,35,634 ha
  5. Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh 1,27,143 ha
  6. Krishna, Andhra Pradesh 1,26,738 ha
  7. Bundi, Rajasthan 89,226 ha
  8. Tonk, Rajasthan 65,389 ha
  9. Panna, Madhya Pradesh 59,622 ha
  10. Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh 59,402 ha

Urad (Black Gram) yield

  1. 0.1–0.4 t/ha
  2. 0.4–0.6 t/ha
  3. 0.6–0.7 t/ha
  4. 0.7–0.9 t/ha
  5. 0.9–1.8 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). 2009-10 to 2024-25.

Where yields are highest

  1. Wanaparthy, Telangana 1.8 t/ha
  2. Gangtok, Sikkim 1.6 t/ha
  3. Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh 1.5 t/ha
  4. Krishna, Andhra Pradesh 1.5 t/ha
  5. Nagarkurnool, Telangana 1.4 t/ha
  6. Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh 1.4 t/ha
  7. Eluru, Andhra Pradesh 1.4 t/ha
  8. Gir Somnath, Gujarat 1.4 t/ha
  9. Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh 1.4 t/ha
  10. Junagadh, Gujarat 1.4 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). 2009-10 to 2024-25.

Across India over the years

Yield (t/ha)

0.0 0.4 0.7
2009-10 2024-25
Latest 0.7 t/ha in 2024-25

Area (ha)

0.0 2.8M 5.6M
2009-10 2024-25
Latest 29,83,922 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). 2009-10 to 2024-25.

Soil and yield

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

Urad (Black Gram) yields tend to be lower in districts with

  • More soil short of zinc weak 503 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).