Growing Sesame (Til) in West Bengal

Updated 2026-07-13 · Region guide

West Bengal sits in the Lower Gangetic Plains with humid subtropical, high rainfall and fertile alluvium. India's top rice and potato state on fertile Gangetic alluvium. Here's how sesame (til) — a Kharif & summer crop — fits, and how to grow it well here.

Is West Bengal good for growing sesame (til)?

When to sow sesame (til) in West Bengal

Sow in summer Feb–Mar; pre-Kharif and harvest around 80–90 days later. The crop takes about 80–95 days. In West Bengal's humid subtropical, high rainfall, the window matters more than anything else you do: ~1750 mm rainfall and canal + wells + heavy monsoon mean a late Kharif & summer sowing runs sesame (til) into the wrong weather at its most sensitive stage.

Where sesame (til) actually grows in West Bengal

Bengal's til belt is Murshidabad, Nadia, Birbhum, Purba Bardhaman, Hooghly, Bankura, Malda and the Medinipur districts, on fertile alluvium. The key difference from every other sesame state: this is a SUMMER crop, sown late February–early March on residual moisture after potato or boro and harvested in May–June — which is exactly why Bengal quietly records India's highest sesame yields.

Where it is sold: There is no single famous til yard here — the crop moves through local haats, the regulated markets at Berhampore, Krishnanagar and Bardhaman, and on to Kolkata oil millers and Gujarat-bound traders. Bengal also grows black til, which has its own domestic and religious market and should never be pooled with white seed.

The local risk to plan for: The whole crop is a race against the monsoon: summer sesame must come off before the rains break. A pre-monsoon Nor'wester (kalbaisakhi) at capsule maturity flattens and shatters it, and a wet May sprouts seed inside the capsule — sowing even two weeks late pushes harvest straight into that window.

Best sesame (til) varieties for West Bengal

Grown in West Bengal:

• Rama (vigorous; the top yielder in BCKV summer trials)
• Tilottama (bold seed, high oil, favoured for crushing)
• Savitri (shorter duration, ~87 days)

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

Typical yield & price

Typical yield here is around 3–5 quintal/acre. The government MSP is ₹8,635/quintal; local mandi rates vary, so check YieldAI for today's live West Bengal price.

Common problems in West Bengal

The pests and diseases to scout for:

• phyllody spread by jassids
• leaf webber / capsule borer
• Macrophomina stem rot where the alluvium stays wet
• waterlogging after a pre-monsoon shower — heavy Bengal alluvium holds water and sesame will not survive a day of it

humid subtropical 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

• Sow by early March — BCKV's Nadia trials put the optimum at roughly 2–12 March, and every week later pushes harvest into the monsoon
• Cut drainage channels even for a summer crop; one pre-monsoon downpour on flat alluvium can kill it outright
• Keep black til as a separate lot — it has its own buyers, and pooling it with white seed loses the difference
• Harvest at capsule yellowing and stook immediately; a Nor'wester on a ripe standing crop is the classic Bengal loss