Water Chestnut (Singhara)
Trapa bispinosa
An aquatic annual grown floating in ponds, tanks and diked wetland fields across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Kashmir's Wular Lake — unlike makhana, whose seed is gathered from the pond floor, singhara's spiny fruit grows just under the floating rosette and is plucked by hand from a small boat over several weeks, then eaten fresh or dried and ground into singhare ka atta, a staple vrat (fasting) flour.
Quick Summary
The key points from this page in about two minutes — read it or have it read aloud.
Quick Summary
Water chestnut, called singhara or paniphal, is the spiny fruit of an annual floating-leaved aquatic plant grown submerged in ponds, tanks and shallow diked fields across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Kashmir's Wular Lake. It shares its growing world with makhana, but the two plants and their harvests are genuinely different — singhara's spiny fruit develops under the floating rosette and growers pluck it by hand from a small boat over several weeks, from about October into December. Makhana seed, by contrast, is gathered from the pond floor.
Unlike makhana, singhara has no nationally released ICAR variety with a household name like Swarna Vaidehi. ICAR's Research Centre for Makhana at Darbhanga reports a thornless Green Spineless genotype that gave up to 12.0 t/ha in research, but most of the crop still grows from farmer-saved local red-spined and green-spined biotypes carried over between seasons rather than bought as certified seed. The fresh nut is eaten boiled or raw, and a large share is dried and ground into singhare ka atta, one of the flours Hindu households treat as suitable for vrat (religious fasting) because it comes from an aquatic fruit rather than a grain — a real reason the flour sees a festival-season demand spike on top of its everyday vegetable-market use.
- Crop type
- Aquatic floating annual, grown submerged in ponds/diked fields
- Season
- Transplanted May–July (June–July in north Bihar); harvested about Oct–Dec
- Suitable states
- Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir
- Growing duration
- About 5 months from June–July transplanting to November–December harvest (north Bihar)
- Water requirement
- Constant standing water, 3–5 feet (about 0.9–1.5 m) in traditional ponds and 0.30–0.60 m in ICAR-RCER integrated ponds, for the whole season
- Temperature
- 20–35°C; a warm subtropical to tropical climate suits it
- Growing medium
- Pond/field with a soft, fertile silt floor that holds water without draining away
- Difficulty level
- Hard — specialised water management and weeks of hand harvest from a boat
- Expected yield
- 3.5–4.0 t/ha traditional average; 7.0–12.0 t/ha in research (Jana, 2025)
- No MSP
- Not a CACP-notified crop; sold locally to traders, and we found no published farm-gate price
Overview
Water chestnut, known across north and east India as singhara or paniphal (Trapa bispinosa, also cited as Trapa natans var. bispinosa), is the spiny nut of an annual, floating-leaved aquatic plant grown submerged in ponds, tanks and shallow diked wetland fields. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal carry the largest growing area, with real production also in Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir — where Wular Lake has a boat-based singhara harvest.
Singhara is often mentioned in the same breath as makhana because both are pond crops of the same eastern and northern belt, sometimes even grown in the same water body, but the two plants and their harvest differ. Makhana seed is gathered from the pond floor, which is tedious work. Singhara's spiny fruit grows underwater right beneath the floating rosette, and growers pluck it by hand from a small boat. A Down To Earth report from a Khajuraho pond describes a harvester poling a narrow iron boat and bending to pick red fruit from the plants, with collection running from October to December. On Wular Lake in Kashmir, women pluck green nuts by hand in summer, and in winter men drag a net over the lakebed for the nuts that have fallen (Kashmir Life, India Water Portal). ICAR-RCER reports that its thornless line is easier to pluck (Singh and others, 2018).
Unlike makhana, singhara has no single nationally released ICAR variety with the recognition of a Swarna Vaidehi. The ICAR-RCER Research Centre for Makhana at Darbhanga reports Bihar Large Red (Spine) at 7.0 t/ha and a thornless Green Spineless genotype at up to 12.0 t/ha in research (Jana, 2025), but we found no release notice or open supply for either. In practice most growers still plant farmer-saved local red-spined, green-spined and, less commonly, spineless biotypes carried over from pond to pond rather than buying certified seed, the same honest picture as makhana's own thin varietal landscape before Swarna Vaidehi came along.
The fresh nut is peeled and eaten boiled, roasted or raw, and a large share of the crop is sun-dried and ground into singhare ka atta (water chestnut flour) — one of the handful of flours Hindu households treat as permitted during vrat (religious fasting) because it comes from an aquatic fruit rather than a cereal grain, a real and specific reason the flour carries a steady festival-season premium on top of its everyday vegetable-market demand.
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
Pond/field preparation
Clear the pond of old plant debris and silt, or bund and puddle a shallow field, and fill it to a modest starting depth before planting.
- Day 0–15
Planting
Seed nuts are raised into seedlings in a nursery, then transplanted by hand into the pond mud: in June–July in north Bihar (Jana, 2025) and in May–June in a Madhya Pradesh pond (FAO case study). Singhara grows from the seed nut, not from tubers.
- Day 15–45
Establishment
Roots anchor in the mud and the first floating leaves reach the surface; water depth is kept shallow at this stage so the young rosette is not swamped.
- Day 45–100
Vine and leaf spread
Rosettes multiply from runners and spread to cover the water surface, shading out most competing weeds; water depth is raised as the canopy thickens.
- Day 100–140
Flowering
Small white flowers open above the water at the leaf axils and submerge once pollinated, each going on to swell into a hard, spiny fruit just beneath the rosette.
- Day 140–210
Fruit development
Fruits fill and harden underwater over several weeks. On Wular Lake in Kashmir, harvesters pluck green nuts by hand in summer, and nuts that have fallen to the bottom by winter are collected with a net.
- Day 150–240
Harvest
From about October into December the fruit is plucked by hand from a small boat, over several weeks (a bamboo-poled iron boat in a Madhya Pradesh pond). We found no source for how many pickings there are or how far apart.
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
- Lakshadweep
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
Grown here
Climate requirements
As with makhana, the defining climate need is not temperature or rainfall but a water source that can hold a pond or field at a near-constant depth for the whole growing season. A grower in the established Bihar–UP–Bengal belt or in the Kashmir valley already has the right climate; the real question is whether a specific pond can be kept full through a dry spell.
Ideal temperature
20–35°C through the growing season suits singhara well; it is a warm-climate plant that does not tolerate frost or cold, stagnant water at any stage
Rainfall
A reliable water source matters more than rainfall itself — the pond or field is filled and topped up from rain, a river, canal or tube well, but must hold a steady depth through the season regardless of how the monsoon behaves
Humidity
High humidity through the monsoon and post-monsoon months is normal and not a particular risk on its own, though very still, humid water favours leaf-spot fungal problems
Sunlight
Full sun on the open water surface once the rosettes spread out is important — a shaded pond gives thin leaf cover and poorly filled fruit
Soil requirements
Choosing where to grow singhara is really a choice of water body, not soil type — an old, well-silted village pond in the established belt already has what the crop needs, while a new plot has to be bunded tightly enough to hold water at the depth the crop needs (3–5 feet in traditional ponds) for the whole season.
Suitable soil
Not a soil crop in the usual sense — singhara is grown in the soft, organically rich silt floor of a pond or a shallow, bunded field that holds standing water; a base that leaks or drains quickly cannot support the crop regardless of fertility
pH range
Roughly neutral to mildly alkaline water and mud (about pH 6.7–8.2) suits it best, a slightly wider tolerance than makhana's preference for neutral-to-acidic water
Drainage
The opposite of a normal crop's requirement — singhara needs the growing area to hold water, not shed it. A pond or field that loses water to seepage or a porous bed cannot maintain the depth the plant needs
Organic matter
A silty, nutrient-rich pond floor built up over years of accumulated organic matter is naturally fertile and needs little added fertiliser; a newly dug or converted field-based plot has to build this up with farmyard manure
Land preparation
Same four steps whichever region you are in — only the timing shifts with the sowing window.
- 1
Desilt and clean an established pond
Before planting, clear the pond of old plant debris, excess weed growth and built-up silt so seedlings root into open mud and water depth can be properly controlled.
- 2
Bund and puddle a new field-based plot
For a diked wetland field, build well-compacted bunds exactly as for a paddy field and puddle the floor so water sits at an even depth across the whole area.
- 3
Confirm the water source before planting
Make sure the pond or field can be filled and topped up reliably for the whole season — from rain, a river, canal or tube well — since a pond that runs dry partway through the season loses the crop.
- 4
Work farmyard manure into a new plot
A newly dug or converted plot lacks the years of natural fertility an old pond has, so work well-rotted farmyard manure into the floor before flooding it.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The most widely grown planting material across the Bihar–UP–Bengal belt: a farmer-saved local biotype with a reddish, sharply two-spined nut, carried over from pond to pond as seed nuts or self-sown seedlings rather than bought fresh each year. A well-kept local type gives 2.5 to 3.5 t/ha (Jana, 2025); yield and quality still vary by pond and by how carefully growers pick their own planting stock. | Transplanted in June–July, harvested in November–December | 2.5–3.5 t/ha for a well-kept local type (Jana, 2025); pond-dependent | Not formally documented; standard field hygiene applies | Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal | General pond and diked-field cultivation |
A second common farmer-saved biotype, grown beside the red-spined type in many ponds, with a green, sharply spined nut. The milder taste some growers mention is local opinion, not measured. Like the red-spined type it is propagated informally rather than through certified seed. It is not the same as the thornless Green Spineless line. | Transplanted in June–July, harvested in November–December | 2.5–3.5 t/ha for a well-kept local type (Jana, 2025); pond-dependent | Not formally documented | Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir | General pond and diked-field cultivation |
Listed as the red-fruited counterpart of the thornless green line from the ICAR-RCER Research Centre for Makhana (Darbhanga). We could not confirm that a red spineless line exists: the 2025 review names only Bihar Large Red (Spine) and a Green Spineless genotype. | Transplanted in June–July, harvested in November–December | No published figure found | Not separately documented | Bihar | Growers who first confirm with the Research Centre for Makhana, Darbhanga that the line and its stock exist |
Improved Green Spineless (IGS) A thornless green-fruited line from the ICAR-RCER Research Centre for Makhana (Darbhanga). The 2025 review reports up to 12.0 t/ha for a Green Spineless genotype, against 7.0 t/ha for Bihar Large Red (Spine). Release status and open supply are not published. Thornless fruit should be easier and safer to pick and peel. | Transplanted in June–July, harvested in November–December | Up to 12.0 t/ha in a research study (range 4.2–12.0 t/ha); not a farm average | Not separately documented | Bihar | Growers who want an easier hand-harvest and can source stock from the Centre |
- Seed rate
- No seed-nut quantity per hectare is published in any ICAR or state-university source we found. Singhara is grown from the seed nut (the ripe fruit itself), raised into seedlings in a nursery and transplanted, not planted from tubers. ICAR-RCER, Darbhanga used about 7,000 transplanted plants a hectare in its integrated makhana–water chestnut–fish pond (Singh and others, 2017). Ask the Research Centre for Makhana or your KVK how many nuts to keep for a pond of your size.
- Certified seed
- There is no organised private or certified seed trade for singhara — nearly all planting material is farmer-saved seed nuts or self-sown seedlings carried over between seasons in the same pond, or exchanged locally between growers. The thornless lines from the ICAR-RCER Research Centre for Makhana are not sold through open market channels as far as we found; confirm availability directly with the Centre before planning a planting around them.
- Spacing
- No published plant spacing was found. Seedlings are set individually into the mud; keep them far enough apart that the rosettes can cover the water without crowding each other.
- Seed treatment
- No routine chemical seed treatment is standard. Keep only firm, undamaged, fully mature seed nuts for the nursery and discard soft, rotted or shrivelled ones. One commercial farming guide says mature nuts are first sprouted in a container with a little water; we found no ICAR or university source for nursery steps.
Sowing guide
As with makhana, timing is the sowing decision that matters most — plant too early into still-cold water and establishment is slow; plant too late and the crop loses growing days before the fruit-development window has to close ahead of falling temperatures.
- Best time
- Transplant in June–July in the north Bihar ponds (Jana, 2025). A Madhya Pradesh case study from FAO transplants seedlings in May–June in a perennial pond. ICAR-RCER's integrated pond was planted in the second week of August and first picked in the last week of October (Singh and others, 2017). Set the date by when your pond reliably holds its water depth, since a young seedling cannot take a falling level.
- Row spacing
- Not applicable — seedlings are set individually into the mud rather than drilled in rows
- Plant spacing
- About 7,000 plants a hectare in ICAR-RCER's integrated pond (Singh and others, 2017); no other published figure found. Keep seedlings apart enough that rosettes do not crowd, and thin by hand if they do
- Sowing depth
- Seedlings are set with their roots in the soft mud of the pond floor. Traditional ponds hold 3–5 feet of water (Jana, 2025); ICAR-RCER describes the crop in 0.30–0.60 m of water, like makhana, in its integrated system (Singh and others, 2017). No sowing depth for seed nuts is published.
- Method
- Seed nuts are raised into seedlings in a nursery and then transplanted by hand into the pond; the plant is propagated from the nut, not from tubers. One farming guide says seedlings are moved when the stems are about 30 cm long, which we could not confirm in an ICAR or university source
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
Established pond system
Throughout the season
A well-silted, long-used pond usually needs little or no added chemical fertiliser — years of accumulated organic matter on the floor supply much of what the crop needs, keeping the traditional method low-cost.
- 2
New field-based system — basal dose
Before flooding, at field preparation
A newly converted plot starts without a pond's built-up fertility, so well-rotted farmyard manure is worked into the floor before it is flooded. We found no published tonnes-per-hectare figure for singhara; a soil test and your local KVK can set the amount.
- 3
Chemical fertiliser (NPK)
Only on advice
We found no ICAR or state-university NPK dose for singhara, so none is given here. The FAO case study of a Madhya Pradesh pond describes the plants living on the pond's existing organic matter. Ask the ICAR-RCER Research Centre for Makhana or your KVK before adding chemical fertiliser.
Irrigation schedule
1. Filling
At planting
Fill the pond or field to a shallow depth for planting and establishment, then raise the water level gradually as rosettes grow and spread across the surface.
2. Full-depth maintenance
Leaf spread through fruit development
Hold the water at a steady depth (traditional ponds run 3–5 feet) through leaf spread, flowering and fruit development — the single most important water task in the whole crop, since a falling level exposes and stresses the plant.
Critical stages
- Establishment — the pond must not run dry in the first weeks after planting
- Leaf spread and flowering — depth must stay steady, not just present
- Fruit development — a sudden drop in water level here stresses the plant and can affect how well fruit fills
Water-saving tips
- A tightly bunded field-based plot loses far less water to seepage than a poorly maintained pond, cutting how much has to be topped up over the season.
- Topping up little and often, rather than letting the level fall a long way and refilling in one go, keeps the plant from the stress of a swinging water depth.
- A pond that also holds fish alongside singhara can share the same water management, spreading upkeep cost across two harvests.
Weed management
Common weeds
Organic control
- Hand-removal of competing floating and submerged weeds from a small boat or by wading, timed before the singhara canopy has closed over the water.
- A well-established rosette canopy shades out most new weed growth once it covers the surface, so early, thorough weeding matters more than repeated later effort.
- Clearing old plant debris from the pond at the end of each season reduces weed and algae carryover into the next.
Chemical control
- Chemical herbicide use in a standing-water pond crop is uncommon and risky, since the pond often has other uses (fish, drinking or irrigation water) that a herbicide would contaminate — manual and cultural control is the standard approach instead.
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.
Nitrogen
Visible symptom
Older leaves turn pale yellow-green and rosette growth slows on a nutrient-poor pond or a new field-based plot without enough organic matter worked in.
Phosphorus
Visible symptom
Leaves take on a dull, darker green cast and flowering and fruit set are delayed or sparse — more likely on a new plot without an old pond's built-up fertility.
Potassium
Visible symptom
Yellowing and scorching along the margins of older leaves, with weaker leaf stalks that struggle to hold the floating rosette flat on the water.
Diseases to watch for
Symptoms, likely cause and what actually treats it — not just a spray name.
Pests to watch for
What to look for before the damage is visible, and organic options before you reach for a chemical.
Aphid
- Identification
- Small, soft-bodied insects clustering on the underside of young leaves and on flower buds, often in visible colonies.
- Damage
- Sap-sucking weakens young leaves and can reduce flowering and fruit set in a heavy infestation, though it is rarely the crop's most serious problem.
- Organic control
- A 0.3% neem oil spray on affected foliage is the standard organic response, along with encouraging natural predators such as ladybird beetles around the pond.
- Chemical control
- A need-based spray of a recommended insecticide, used sparingly and with care around a water body that may have other uses, only where the infestation is heavy.
Leaf-eating caterpillar
- Identification
- Caterpillars feeding on the leaf surface, leaving irregular chewed patches and holes across the floating rosettes.
- Damage
- Reduces the healthy leaf area available for the plant to fill its developing fruit, and a heavy infestation can noticeably thin the canopy.
- Organic control
- Hand-picking visible caterpillars where the pond is small enough to manage this way, plus a neem-based spray for a wider outbreak.
- Chemical control
- A need-based insecticide spray recommended for use in standing water, applied only when damage crosses a noticeable threshold.
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
Letting pond water level fall during fruit development
Why it hurts
A falling water level exposes and stresses the plant during its most water-sensitive stage, reducing both leaf growth and the number of fruit that fill properly.
- 2
Treating singhara harvest like makhana's — gathering from the pond floor
Why it hurts
Singhara fruit is plucked from the plant by hand from a boat over several weeks, not dived for. Fruit left too long can fall to the bottom; on Wular Lake the fallen nuts are collected in winter with a net dragged over the lakebed (Kashmir Life, 2022), which is a separate job.
- 3
Choosing a plot or pond that cannot hold water reliably for the full season
Why it hurts
A pond or field that leaks or dries out partway through the growing cycle can lose the crop entirely, regardless of how well everything else was managed.
- 4
Delaying drying of the fresh nut meant for flour
Why it hurts
Fresh nuts left too long before drying can spoil or discolour, lowering the quality — and price — of the singhare ka atta ground from them.
- 5
Overcrowded planting without later thinning
Why it hurts
A dense stand shades its own fruit-bearing zone and encourages leaf-spot fungal problems in the still, humid air trapped under a thick canopy.
Harvesting
From about October into December (north Bihar: November–December; a Madhya Pradesh pond: October–December in one report, November–January in another; ICAR-RCER's integrated pond system: first picking in the last week of October after a second-week-of-August planting). The fruit is plucked by hand from a small boat over several weeks. We found no source for the number or interval of pickings.
Signs it is ready
- Fruit has filled out and hardened, and its colour has set (red or green, depending on the type)
- The fruit is plucked from the plant by hand; on Wular Lake, nuts that have fallen to the lakebed are collected in winter with a net
Tools
- A small boat to work the pond: a narrow iron boat poled with bamboo in a Madhya Pradesh pond (Down To Earth, 2019)
- Baskets in the boat to hold the plucked fruit
- A net dragged over the bottom for fallen nuts, as on Wular Lake in winter (Kashmir Life, 2022)
- Gloves, useful on spined biotypes to avoid the sharp fruit horns
Expected yield
The traditional average is 3.5–4.0 t/ha of fresh fruit; a well-kept local type gives 2.5–3.5 t/ha. Research reports 7.0 t/ha for Bihar Large Red (Spine) and up to 12.0 t/ha for a Green Spineless genotype (Jana, 2025). The research figures are not farm averages.
Post-harvest & storage
Storage
Fresh nuts are highly perishable and are usually sold quickly for the fresh vegetable market. Nuts meant for flour are sun-dried, then the hard shell is removed and the kernel is dried further before grinding; dried, properly stored kernel or flour keeps far longer than the fresh nut.
Packaging
Fresh nuts are packed loosely in sacks or baskets for quick transport to market; dried kernel and singhare ka atta are packed in moisture-proof bags, since the flour readily reabsorbs moisture and spoils if kept damp.
Transportation
Fresh nuts must reach market quickly, within a few days of picking, since they do not keep well; dried kernel and flour tolerate longer transport if kept dry.
Shelf life
Fresh nuts keep only a few days to about a week under normal conditions; well-dried kernel keeps for several months, and singhare ka atta, stored airtight and away from moisture, keeps similarly well.
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.
Government mandi price not available for this crop
This crop is not traded through APMC mandis covered by the government’s Agmarknet system, so there is no mandi price to show here.
Reference MSP: Not a CACP-notified crop; sold locally to traders, and we found no published farm-gate price
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Profit calculator
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Official downloads
Government and ICAR documents only — everything below is hosted on an official server.
ICAR-RCER Research Centre for Makhana, Darbhanga
Source of the thornless Green Spineless singhara line and of the 2025 water chestnut review, and researches pond-crop cultivation practices for the same eastern Bihar belt as makhana.
Soil Health Card portal
For a farmer converting a field to the diked field-based system, a soil test helps judge the manure and fertiliser needed to build up fertility an established pond already has.
mKisan — SMS advisory portal
Register for free SMS advisories, including for districts covered by pond-crop extension programmes.
Frequently asked questions
Is singhara the same crop as makhana?
No, though the two are often grown in the same ponds and belt. Both are aquatic plants, but makhana seed is gathered from the pond floor, which is tedious work. Singhara's spiny fruit grows under the floating rosette and is plucked from the plant by hand from a small boat. On Wular Lake in Kashmir, nuts that have fallen to the bottom are collected in winter with a net dragged over the lakebed.
Where in India is water chestnut grown?
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal carry the largest growing area, with real production also in Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir. On Wular Lake in Kashmir, singhara is gathered from boats in autumn.
Are there released, named water chestnut varieties like makhana's Swarna Vaidehi?
Not at the same scale. The ICAR-RCER Research Centre for Makhana at Darbhanga reports Bihar Large Red (Spine) at 7.0 t/ha and a thornless Green Spineless genotype at up to 12.0 t/ha in research (Jana, 2025), but we found no release notice or open supply for either. Most growers still plant farmer-saved local red-spined and green-spined biotypes carried over between seasons.
What is singhare ka atta and why is it eaten during fasting?
Singhare ka atta is flour ground from dried, peeled water chestnut kernel. Hindu households treat it as suitable for vrat (religious fasting) because it comes from an aquatic fruit rather than a cereal grain, unlike wheat or rice flour — a specific, factual reason it sees a steady demand spike around major fasting festivals on top of its everyday use in vegetable dishes.
Does water chestnut have an MSP or a mandi price?
There is no MSP for water chestnut, and a direct check of the Agmarknet mandi dataset found no genuine trade records under "Singhara," "Water Chestnut" or any related name — like makhana, most of the crop moves through local and direct sale to traders and processors rather than organised APMC mandis. We found no published farm-gate price for fresh nut, so ask local traders for the current rate.
How is singhara harvested?
By hand from a boat. In a Khajuraho pond a harvester poles a narrow iron boat and plucks red fruit from the plants, and the family collects from October to December (Down To Earth, 2019). On Wular Lake, women pluck green nuts in summer and men drag a net over the lakebed for fallen nuts in winter (Kashmir Life, 2022; India Water Portal, 2021). ICAR-RCER reports that its thornless line is easier to pluck (Singh and others, 2018). We found no source for how many pickings a season has.
Is singhara grown from tubers or from the seed nut?
From the seed nut, which is the ripe fruit itself. Growers keep mature nuts, raise seedlings in a nursery and transplant them by hand into the pond. Tubers are not the planting material for singhara; Chinese water chestnut (Eleocharis) is a different plant grown from corms. We found no ICAR or state-university figure for how many nuts a hectare needs, so ask the ICAR-RCER Research Centre for Makhana, Darbhanga, or your KVK.
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.