Sesame (Til)
Sesamum indicum
A rainfed kharif oilseed carrying the highest MSP of any crop on this site — but the tiny seed forgives nothing. Shallow sowing into a fine, moist bed, and harvesting the moment the lowest capsules turn, are what stand between a good crop and one shattered onto the ground.
- Crop type
- Oilseed
- Season
- Kharif & summer
- Suitable states
- 10+ major states
- Growing duration
- 80–95 days
- Water requirement
- Low (mostly rainfed)
- Temperature
- 25–35°C
- Soil type
- Light, well-drained loam
- Difficulty level
- Moderate
- Expected yield
- 5–8 q/ha
- MSP (KMS 2026–27)
- ₹10,346 / quintal
Overview
Sesame, or til (Sesamum indicum), is one of India’s oldest oilseeds — grown for its high-value edible oil and for seed used in sweets and garnishes — mostly as a hardy, rainfed kharif crop on light soils where little else thrives.
It carries the highest MSP of any crop covered here, which reflects both its oil value and its risk: yields are modest, the crop is prone to shattering, and a single spell of rain at maturity can stain and sprout the seed.
Two things separate a good sesame crop from a poor one — a fine, moist, shallow seedbed that gives an even stand, and harvesting at exactly the right moment, before the ripe capsules split and drop the seed. This guide keeps coming back to both.
Crop timeline, sowing to harvest
A quick visual map of the season — jump to any section below for the detail behind each stage.
- Day 0
Sowing
Tiny seed mixed with sand and sown just 2–3 cm deep into a fine, moist bed at 30×10 cm.
- Day 5–7
Emergence
Fragile seedlings emerge; a surface crust after rain, or too-deep sowing, is the commonest cause of a thin stand.
- Day 15–20
Thinning
Thin to 10 cm within the row; the crop grows slowly early, so keep it clean and unshaded.
- Day 30–40
Branching
The plant frame and branch number are set here — the stage that decides how many capsule-bearing nodes there will be.
- Day 40–55
Flowering
Bell-shaped flowers open from the bottom up, so the plant flowers, sets capsules and matures over a long span at once.
- Day 55–75
Capsule filling
Capsules fill with seed from the base of the stem upwards; leaf webber and phyllody damage shows now.
- Day 80–95
Maturity & harvest
Leaves yellow and the lowest capsules start to turn — cut before the capsules split and shatter the seed.
Suitable states
States where this crop is grown at scale, highlighted below. Your local Krishi Vigyan Kendra is still the final word for your specific block.
- Jammu and Kashmir
- Himachal Pradesh
- Punjab
- Uttarakhand
- Haryana
- Delhi
- Uttar Pradesh
- Rajasthan
- Bihar
- Jharkhand
- West Bengal
- Sikkim
- Assam
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Meghalaya
- Nagaland
- Manipur
- Mizoram
- Tripura
- Gujarat
- Madhya Pradesh
- Chhattisgarh
- Maharashtra
- Odisha
- Goa
- Telangana
- Andhra Pradesh
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Tamil Nadu
- Puducherry
- Ladakh
- Chandigarh
Grown here
Climate requirements
Sesame is drought-hardy and thrives on light soils and low rainfall, but it is acutely sensitive to excess water — waterlogging even briefly kills it, and rain during flowering or capsule maturity is the single biggest cause of crop loss.
Ideal temperature
25–35°C; a warm-season crop that will not germinate well below 20°C
Rainfall
400–600 mm well-distributed; very sensitive to rain at flowering and maturity
Humidity
Moderate; high humidity encourages leaf and capsule disease
Sunlight
Full sun; a short-day plant that flowers earlier under shorter days
Soil requirements
Choose your lightest, best-draining field for sesame. A heavy or low-lying field that holds water after rain will drown the crop; the plant yellows and collapses within a day or two of standing water.
Suitable soil
Light to medium, well-drained sandy loam and loam; does poorly on heavy, water-holding soils
pH range
5.5–8.0
Drainage
Free-draining — sesame is more sensitive to waterlogging than almost any field crop
Organic matter
Modest need; responds to residual fertility and to sulphur
Land preparation
Same four steps whichever region you are in — only the timing shifts with the sowing window.
- 1
Fine, firm seedbed
Two or three harrowings and planking to make a very fine, clod-free bed — a small seed sown shallow needs fine tilth for even emergence.
- 2
Ensure drainage
Form the field so water drains away quickly; open channels in a wet kharif, because sesame will not survive standing water.
- 3
Basal fertiliser and sulphur
Mix the basal nitrogen, phosphorus, potash and, importantly, sulphur into the top few centimetres — sesame is strongly sulphur-responsive.
Seed information
How the main varieties compare, so you can pick by duration, yield, disease pressure or what you are growing for.
| Variety | Duration | Yield | Disease resistance | Best state | Suitable for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RT-346 Popular Rajasthan variety with stable rainfed yield and good oil content. | 82–88 days | Medium–high | Moderately tolerant to root rot | Rajasthan | Kharif, rainfed |
GT-10 (Gujarat Til-10) Widely grown in Gujarat; bold, light-coloured seed favoured for the export and sweets market. | 85–90 days | High | Moderate | Gujarat | Kharif & summer, white seed |
TKG-22 Madhya Pradesh variety with synchronous maturity, easing the shattering problem. | 80–85 days | Medium–high | Tolerant to leaf spot | Madhya Pradesh | Kharif |
TC-25 Early, widely adapted variety useful for a summer or catch crop. | 75–82 days | Medium | Moderate | Uttar Pradesh | Summer, short-duration |
Swetha (TMV-3 type) White-seeded variety for the southern states with good oil recovery. | 80–85 days | Medium | Moderate | Tamil Nadu | Kharif & rice-fallow |
- Seed rate
- 4–5 kg/ha; mix the seed with 3–4 times its volume of dry sand or sieved soil for even sowing
- Certified seed
- Use certified seed of a variety suited to your state and season. Because the seed is so small, mixing it with sand is the only way to spread the tiny quantity evenly across the field.
- Spacing
- 30 cm between rows × 10 cm within the row after thinning
- Seed treatment
- Treat seed with Thiram or Carbendazim (2–3 g/kg) against seed-borne root and stem rot, the diseases that most often thin a sesame stand.
Sowing guide
Sow shallow into moisture and firm the surface lightly. The seed is minute and has little energy to push through a crust or deep soil — 2–3 cm is the maximum depth, and a fine, moist seedbed is non-negotiable.
- Best time
- Kharif: June–July with the monsoon. Summer: February–March.
- Row spacing
- 30 cm
- Plant spacing
- 10 cm within the row (by thinning)
- Sowing depth
- 2–3 cm — shallow; deeper sowing is the commonest cause of a poor stand
- Method
- Mix seed with dry sand and drill or line-sow into a fine, moist bed; broadcasting wastes the tiny seed
Fertilizer schedule
A split dose beats one large dose applied at sowing — nitrogen especially is lost to the air and to leaching if it all goes in on day one.
- 1
Basal (at sowing)
Day 0
Half the nitrogen with full phosphorus and potash — around 20–30 N : 20 P₂O₅ : 20 K₂O kg/ha basally for a rainfed crop, more if irrigated.
- 2
Sulphur
Basal
20 kg S/ha via gypsum lifts both yield and oil content — sesame is one of the most sulphur-responsive oilseeds.
- 3
Nitrogen top-dressing
25–30 days
The remaining nitrogen at branching, if soil moisture allows, drives capsule-bearing branches.
Irrigation schedule
1. Kharif crop
Whole season
Usually entirely rainfed; the job is drainage in wet spells, not irrigation.
2. Branching
25–30 days
In a summer crop or a dry kharif, the first irrigation goes in at branching.
3. Flowering & capsule fill
40–60 days
A life-saving irrigation here in a dry spell protects the capsule fill that makes the yield.
Critical stages
- Flowering (40–55 days)
- Capsule filling (55–70 days)
Water-saving tips
- Sesame is drought-hardy — its main need is that water drains away, not that more is added.
- In the summer crop, restrict irrigation as maturity nears; late water delays ripening and worsens shattering.
- One well-timed irrigation at flowering pays back more than several routine ones.
Weed management
Organic control
- One or two hand weedings in the first month are critical — sesame grows slowly at first and loses badly to early weed competition.
- Thinning at 15–20 days doubles as a weeding and sets the right plant stand.
Chemical control
- Pre-emergence Pendimethalin 1.0 kg a.i./ha within 2 days of sowing controls early weeds while the slow-starting crop establishes.
- Avoid post-emergence herbicides not cleared for sesame; the crop is sensitive.
Nutrient deficiency identification
What a shortage of each nutrient actually looks like on the plant, so you can tell a deficiency apart from a disease before you spray the wrong thing.
Sulphur
Visible symptom
Yellowing of the youngest leaves and low oil content — the classic and costly sesame deficiency.
Nitrogen
Visible symptom
Uniformly pale, small older leaves and few branches, so few capsule-bearing nodes.
Phosphorus
Visible symptom
Dull dark-green leaves, weak roots and delayed flowering on phosphorus-poor light soils.
Iron
Visible symptom
Interveinal yellowing of the top leaves with green veins, common on calcareous, high-pH soils.
Zinc
Visible symptom
Small, pale young leaves with shortened internodes on zinc-deficient soils.
Diseases to watch for
Symptoms, likely cause and what actually treats it — not just a spray name.
Phyllody
- Symptoms
- Flowers turn into small green leafy structures instead of capsules; the whole plant becomes bushy and sterile, setting no seed.
- Cause
- A phytoplasma spread by leafhoppers — not seed-borne.
- Treatment
- No cure once infected; rogue out affected plants at once and control the leafhopper vector with a recommended insecticide.
- Prevention
- Sow at the recommended time, control leafhoppers early, keep field borders weed-free and use tolerant varieties where available.
Alternaria leaf spot
- Symptoms
- Dark brown spots with concentric rings on leaves, which enlarge and cause defoliation; also lesions on stem and capsules.
- Cause
- Alternaria sesami, favoured by warm, humid, wet weather.
- Treatment
- Spray Mancozeb or a recommended fungicide at first appearance and repeat at 10–12 day intervals.
- Prevention
- Treat seed, rotate crops, avoid dense stands and remove debris after harvest.
Root rot / stem rot
- Symptoms
- Sudden wilting and death of plants in patches; blackened, rotting roots and a shredded lower stem.
- Cause
- Macrophomina phaseolina, worst in hot, dry soils and on stressed plants.
- Treatment
- Little can be done once a plant wilts; improve drainage and avoid moisture stress.
- Prevention
- Treat seed with fungicide, rotate away from susceptible crops and avoid both waterlogging and severe drought stress.
Powdery mildew
- Symptoms
- A white powdery coating on leaves late in the crop, causing early leaf fall and poor capsule fill.
- Cause
- Erysiphe / Oidium, favoured by dry days and cool nights.
- Treatment
- Spray wettable sulphur or a recommended systemic fungicide on first appearance.
- Prevention
- Do not delay sowing, which pushes the crop into disease-favourable late weather, and grow tolerant varieties.
Pests to watch for
What to look for before the damage is visible, and organic options before you reach for a chemical.
Leaf webber & capsule borer (Antigastra)
- Identification
- Caterpillars webbing together the top leaves and shoots early, then boring into flowers and capsules to eat the developing seed.
- Damage
- The single most important sesame pest — it attacks from shoot to capsule and can devastate seed yield.
- Organic control
- Remove and destroy webbed shoots, use neem sprays and pheromone traps, and conserve natural enemies.
- Chemical control
- Spray a recommended insecticide such as quinalphos or chlorantraniliprole at first webbing and again at capsule formation if needed.
Sesame gall fly
- Identification
- Maggots inside the flower buds turn them into hard, deformed galls that never form capsules.
- Damage
- Loss of capsules directly, cutting yield.
- Organic control
- Remove and destroy galled buds; encourage parasitoids by avoiding needless spraying.
- Chemical control
- A systemic insecticide at bud stage where gall fly is a known problem.
Hawk moth (sphinx) caterpillar
- Identification
- Large green caterpillars with a tail-horn that defoliate plants rapidly.
- Damage
- Heavy leaf loss on individual plants; usually patchy but sudden.
- Organic control
- Hand-pick the conspicuous large caterpillars, which is often enough given their size.
- Chemical control
- Spot-spray a recommended insecticide on affected patches if numbers are high.
Leafhopper (phyllody vector)
- Identification
- Small wedge-shaped hoppers on the leaf underside that jump when disturbed.
- Damage
- Direct feeding is minor, but they transmit phyllody — the reason to control them early.
- Organic control
- Yellow sticky traps and neem sprays; keep borders and weeds clean.
- Chemical control
- A systemic insecticide early in the crop to cut phyllody spread.
Common mistakes to avoid
The mistakes that cost growers the most, ranked by how often they show up in the field — not in the order you might expect.
- 1
Sowing the tiny seed too deep in a cloddy bed.
Why it hurts
The seed has no energy to push through — the stand comes up thin and gappy and never fills the field.
- 2
Sowing sesame on a heavy, water-holding field.
Why it hurts
The crop drowns after the first heavy rain; sesame is more sensitive to waterlogging than almost any other field crop.
- 3
Sowing the seed neat instead of mixing it with sand.
Why it hurts
Uneven, bunched sowing — patches too thick and patches bare — because the quantity is too small to spread by hand alone.
- 4
Ignoring leaf webber until capsules are already bored.
Why it hurts
Antigastra works from shoot to capsule; by the time bored capsules show, much of the seed is already lost.
- 5
Leaving phyllody-affected plants standing in the field.
Why it hurts
They set no seed and act as a source for leafhoppers to spread phyllody to healthy plants.
- 6
Under-applying sulphur.
Why it hurts
Lower oil content and yield — sesame is among the most sulphur-responsive oilseeds, and it is bought largely on oil.
- 7
Weeding late.
Why it hurts
Sesame grows slowly at first and cannot compete; early weeds thin the crop before it ever closes canopy.
- 8
Waiting for the whole plant to dry before harvesting.
Why it hurts
Capsules ripen from the bottom up, so the lowest ones split and shatter their seed onto the ground while the top is still green.
- 9
Threshing roughly on the ground.
Why it hurts
The fine seed is lost into soil and trash; sesame must be stacked, dried and gently shaken out over a clean sheet.
- 10
Storing seed that is not fully dry.
Why it hurts
High-oil sesame seed heats, goes rancid and moulds quickly — it must be dried to 6–8% moisture before storage.
Harvesting
When the leaves yellow and the lowest capsules just begin to turn yellow-brown — usually 80–95 days after sowing. Do not wait for the whole plant to dry, or the ripe lower capsules will split and shatter the seed before you cut.
Signs it is ready
- Leaves yellowing and dropping
- Lowest capsules turning yellow-brown
- Seed inside plump and its final colour
Tools
- Sickle for cutting whole plants
- Tarpaulin or clean sheet for drying and shaking
- Bundling and stacking to ripen the upper capsules
Expected yield
5–8 q/ha under good management; 3–5 q/ha in a poor rainfed year
Post-harvest & storage
Storage
Dry the seed to 6–8% moisture before storage — high-oil sesame seed heats and turns rancid quickly if damp. Store in clean, dry, airtight containers in a cool place.
Packaging
Clean bags for oil-mill seed; airtight containers for the light-coloured seed sold to the sweets and export market, where cleanliness commands a premium.
Transportation
Keep seed dry and clean in transit — moisture and dirt both cut the grade sharply.
Shelf life
Well-dried seed keeps several months; light-seeded sesame for eating fetches the best price when clean, bright and freshly stored.
Market prices
Today's mandi price near you, pulled live from the government's own Agmarknet data.
Live daily mandi prices from the government Agmarknet dataset.
Synced from data.gov.in (Agmarknet). Rates are ₹ per quintal.
Weather
Current conditions and a 5-day outlook for your selected location, with one line of stage-aware advice.
Pick your state for current conditions and a 5-day outlook.
Live data from Open-Meteo
Profit calculator
Your own cost sheet, expected yield and selling price — not ours.
Where the money goes
Share of the total cost per acre, using the calculator’s own default cost sheet below — adjust the numbers there to match your field and this picture will no longer apply to you exactly, but the ranking rarely changes.
- Land rent40% (₹6,000)
- Labour20% (₹3,000)
- Machinery12% (₹1,800)
- Fertiliser8% (₹1,200)
- Pesticide & weedicide8% (₹1,200)
- Irrigation5% (₹800)
- Seed4% (₹600)
- Interest3% (₹400)
Official downloads
Government and ICAR documents only — everything below is hosted on an official server.
Frequently asked questions
How deep should I sow sesame seed?
Only 2–3 cm — shallow. The seed is minute and has little reserve to push through a crust or deep soil, so deep sowing into a cloddy bed is the commonest cause of a thin, gappy stand. Mix the seed with dry sand and sow into a fine, moist seedbed.
Why did my sesame crop shatter and lose seed before harvest?
Sesame capsules ripen from the bottom of the plant upwards and split open when fully dry. If you wait for the whole plant to dry, the lowest capsules shatter and drop their seed. Harvest when the leaves yellow and the lowest capsules just start to turn, then stack and dry the bundles.
Why are the flowers on my sesame turning into leaves?
That is phyllody, a disease spread by leafhoppers in which flowers become small green leafy structures and set no seed. There is no cure once a plant is infected — rogue out affected plants immediately and control leafhoppers early to stop it spreading.
Can sesame be grown on heavy soil?
It is best avoided. Sesame thrives on light, well-drained soils and is extremely sensitive to waterlogging — a heavy, water-holding field drowns the crop after heavy rain. Choose your lightest, best-draining field for til.
What is the MSP of sesamum (til)?
For the KMS 2026–27 marketing season the government announced an MSP of ₹10,346 per quintal for sesamum — the highest MSP among the crops on this site. MSP is the assured floor at procurement centres; confirm the current figure and your local mandi rate before selling.
How much sesame yield can I expect?
Around 5–8 quintals per hectare under good management, and 3–5 in a poor rainfed year. Yields are modest, which is part of why the MSP is high — the value is in the oil and, for light-seeded types, the clean eating-quality seed.
Still have questions?
The FAQs above cover the common ones. For anything specific to your field and soil, your nearest Krishi Vigyan Kendra is the authoritative answer.