Growing Chickpea (Gram) in Uttar Pradesh

Updated 2026-07-13 · Region guide

Uttar Pradesh sits in the Upper Gangetic Plains with sub-humid, hot summers and fertile alluvium. India's largest sugarcane state, on deep Gangetic alluvium. Here's how chickpea (gram) — a Rabi crop — fits, and how to grow it well here.

Is Uttar Pradesh good for growing chickpea (gram)?

When to sow chickpea (gram) in Uttar Pradesh

Sow in Oct–Nov and harvest around Mar. The crop takes about 95–120 days. In Uttar Pradesh's sub-humid, hot summers, the window matters more than anything else you do: ~800 mm rainfall and canal + tubewell mean a late Rabi sowing runs chickpea (gram) into the wrong weather at its most sensitive stage.

Where chickpea (gram) actually grows in Uttar Pradesh

UP's chana has retreated to Bundelkhand — Jhansi, Lalitpur, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Banda and Chitrakoot — on the light rakar and parwa soils, with pockets left in Kanpur Dehat, Fatehpur, Prayagraj, Etawah and Auraiya. Wherever assured irrigation exists, wheat took the land; what is left is mostly unirrigated chana on marginal ground.

Where it is sold: Jhansi, Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Lalitpur, Kanpur, Fatehpur and Prayagraj are the working yards. Be realistic about the floor: UP's procurement machinery is built around wheat, and chana PSS purchase here is small and patchy next to Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan — in most years the Jhansi or Banda mandi rate is simply what you get, so plan storage and staggered selling instead of counting on MSP.

The local risk to plan for: In Bundelkhand the biggest single cause of chana loss is not an insect or a fungus — it is nilgai and stray cattle walking through the crop at night. A plot without a fence or a shared night-watch can lose more than any pest takes, and the pulse fields on the edge of the village take it worst.

Best chickpea (gram) varieties for Uttar Pradesh

Grown in Uttar Pradesh:

• Pusa-372 and Pusa-256 — widely notified across the UP plains
• K-850 — Kanpur-bred, the long-standing bold desi of Bundelkhand
• Radhey and Avrodhi — wilt-tolerant desi for the light rakar soils
• KWR-108 and Udai (KPG-59) — for late-sown and rice-fallow situations
• Shubhra / Pusa-1053 — Kabuli, where a size premium is actually available to you

Confirm the variety is notified for Uttar Pradesh — on fertile alluvium under canal + tubewell, a variety bred for a different zone will underperform whatever the seed packet claims. Your Uttar Pradesh KVK or agriculture officer holds the current shortlist.

Typical yield & price

Typical yield here is around 6–9 quintal/acre. The government MSP is ₹5,440/quintal; local mandi rates vary, so check YieldAI for today's live Uttar Pradesh price.

Common problems in Uttar Pradesh

The pests and diseases to scout for:

• nilgai and stray cattle — in Bundelkhand this outranks every insect as a cause of chana loss, and it is the reason plots need fencing or a shared night-watch
• Helicoverpa pod borer from flowering onward
• wilt on the light rakar and parwa soils under repeated chana
• frost damage on clear January nights across the Jhansi-Lalitpur tract

sub-humid conditions shape which of these bite hardest each season — scout early and act while a problem is small. YieldAI can identify a pest or disease from a photo of your crop.

Key practices

• Budget for protection before you budget for anything else — block-sowing chana with your neighbours makes a shared fence or night-watch affordable, and a lone pulse plot in Bundelkhand is a feeding ground
• Sow by early November onto conserved kharif-fallow moisture; this crop is rainfed on marginal land, so the sowing date is most of the yield
• Do not plan around MSP — UP's chana procurement is small and patchy, and the Jhansi or Banda rate is the real number, so stagger your selling instead
• Where you have one irrigation available, hold it for flowering rather than spending it on early growth