Crop Yield Calculator
Estimate total crop yield and yield per acre from a small harvested sample (crop cutting method).
Enter your details
Harvest a small, measured patch of your crop, weigh the produce, and this calculator scales it up to your whole field – in quintals, per acre and per hectare. Add a price to estimate what the crop is worth before you sell.
About the Crop Yield Calculator
The crop cutting method is how India's official yield estimates are made, and it is just as useful on a single farm. Instead of guessing a field's output by eye, you harvest a small, carefully measured area, weigh what it produces, and scale up.
A good estimate helps you:
- arrange storage, bags and transport before harvest,
- decide whether to sell at harvest or store,
- compare varieties or practices on your own land,
- cross-check the yield used in a crop insurance claim.
Grain yield is also sensitive to moisture. Freshly harvested grain can be several percentage points wetter than the moisture at which it is traded. If you have a moisture meter reading, the calculator can correct the weight to a standard moisture – the way mandis and procurement agencies think about it.
How to take a good sample
- Mark a square plot – 5 m × 5 m (25 m²) is common – in a part of the field that represents the average crop. Avoid borders, bunds and unusually good or bad patches.
- Harvest everything inside the plot, thresh, clean and weigh the grain.
- For a better estimate, take two or three plots in different parts of the field and add them together (enter the combined area and combined weight).
How to use the Crop Yield Calculator
- 1 Enter the area of your sample plot and the weight of grain or produce it gave.
- 2 Enter the total area of the field.
- 3 Optionally enter the moisture at weighing and the standard moisture to correct to.
- 4 Optionally enter the price per quintal to see the estimated value.
- 5 Press Calculate.
The formula we use
Yield per m² = Sample weight ÷ Sample area
Total yield = Yield per m² × Field area (m²)
Moisture-corrected weight = Weight × (100 − Harvest moisture) ÷ (100 − Standard moisture)1 quintal = 100 kg. 1 acre = 4,046.86 m². 1 hectare = 10,000 m².
Worked example
You harvest a 25 m² plot of wheat and get 11.5 kg of clean grain. The field is 2 acres.
- Yield per m² = 11.5 ÷ 25 = 0.46 kg.
- Field yield = 0.46 × 8,093.71 m² = 3,723 kg = 37.23 quintal.
- Per acre = 0.46 × 4,046.86 ÷ 100 = 18.62 quintal per acre (46 q/ha).
- At ₹2,400 per quintal, the crop is worth about ₹89,354.
Things to keep in mind
- One sample can mislead. Fields vary. Two or three random plots give a much more reliable figure.
- Harvest losses. Combine or manual harvesting of the whole field loses some grain that careful sample harvesting doesn't. Real output is often a few percent lower.
- Moisture matters. Weighing grain straight from the field overstates the yield you will actually sell after drying.
Frequently asked questions
What is the crop cutting method?
It is a way of estimating yield by harvesting a small, randomly selected plot of known size, weighing the produce and scaling it up to the whole field. Governments use it to estimate state and district yields and for crop insurance.
How big should the sample plot be?
Official crop cutting experiments commonly use plots of around 25 m² (for example 5 m × 5 m) for crops like wheat and paddy. Larger or multiple plots give better accuracy.
How do I convert kg per m² to quintal per acre?
Multiply by 4,046.86 (m² in an acre) and divide by 100 (kg in a quintal). So 0.5 kg/m² = 20.2 quintal per acre.
Why correct for moisture?
Water adds weight but not value. Grain at 20% moisture weighs more than the same grain dried to 12%. Correcting to a standard moisture gives a fair comparison and a realistic selling weight.
Last updated . Spotted a mistake or need a unit we don't support? Tell us.