Ushr: Zakat on Crops and Farm Produce

Ushr, the zakat due on crops and farm produce, is calculated at harvest time, not after a full lunar year of ownership like other zakat categories, and the rate depends entirely on how the land was watered: 10 percent for rain-fed or naturally irrigated land, and 5 percent for land irrigated with pumped water, wells, or paid irrigation systems. The threshold (nisab) for ushr is measured in weight of harvested crop, roughly 653 kilograms of the staple grain in most fiqh calculations, not in cash value like gold or silver nisab. This matters for anyone growing food on any scale, from a large commercial farm down to a hobby vegetable patch or allotment plot, because the rules that apply to salary and savings simply do not apply here. This guide walks through what ushr actually is, how the crop-weight nisab works, the different rates by irrigation method, which crops qualify, and a worked example so you can calculate your own ushr correctly at harvest.

What is ushr, and how is it different from wealth zakat?

Ushr (literally “the tenth”) is a distinct category of zakat that applies specifically to agricultural produce, separate from the wealth zakat you calculate on gold, cash, business assets, or shares. The most important structural difference is timing: wealth zakat requires you to hold assets above nisab for a full lunar year (hawl) before it becomes due, while ushr is due immediately at harvest, every single harvest, with no waiting period at all. If your land produces two or three harvests in a year, ushr is calculated and paid separately each time. There is also no combining of crop weight with your cash or gold holdings; ushr nisab is assessed purely on the weight of the harvested crop itself.

The crop-weight nisab: roughly 653 kilograms

Ushr only becomes obligatory once your harvest reaches a minimum threshold, commonly cited as five wasq, which most contemporary fiqh councils convert to approximately 653 kilograms of the staple grain (wheat being the traditional reference point, though the same weight threshold is generally applied across similar staple crops). A backyard vegetable garden or a small hobby farm producing well under this weight in any single harvest is not obligated to pay ushr on that harvest at all. This is very different from gold or cash nisab, which is pegged to a value in your local currency; ushr nisab is pegged to physical weight of the crop itself, harvest by harvest.

The rates: 10 percent, 5 percent, or 7.5 percent depending on irrigation

The rate owed on a qualifying harvest depends entirely on the cost and effort involved in watering the land, following the underlying principle that produce grown with less human effort and expense owes a higher share. Land watered naturally by rain, rivers, or flooding, without the farmer paying for irrigation, owes the full 10 percent rate. Land watered using pumps, wells, purchased water, or other paid irrigation infrastructure owes half that, 5 percent, in recognition of the farmer’s added cost. Where a single field or crop cycle used a mix of both rain-fed and irrigated watering during the growing season, many scholars apply a blended 7.5 percent rate, splitting the difference between the two methods proportionally to how the land was actually watered.

Which crops does ushr apply to?

Ushr applies most clearly to staple grains and storable produce, such as wheat, barley, rice, corn, and similar cereal crops, along with dates and raisins in the classical texts. Contemporary scholars generally extend the ruling to other cultivated crops harvested for sale or storage, including many fruits and vegetables grown at commercial or near-commercial scale, though there is more scholarly discussion around perishable produce that cannot be stored, and around crops grown purely for personal household consumption rather than sale. If you are running any kind of working farm, orchard, or larger allotment producing food for sale or substantial storage, it is worth checking with a local scholar or zakat authority on how they classify your specific crop.

A worked example

Consider a small farmer who harvests 900 kilograms of wheat from a field irrigated using a diesel pump drawing from a well. Because 900 kilograms exceeds the roughly 653 kilogram nisab, ushr is due on the entire harvest, not just the amount above the threshold. Since the field was irrigated using paid pumping rather than rain, the 5 percent rate applies: 900 kilograms multiplied by 5 percent equals 45 kilograms of wheat (or its equivalent cash value) owed as ushr. Compare this to a neighboring rain-fed field also producing 900 kilograms: at the 10 percent rate, that harvest would owe 90 kilograms, double the irrigated field’s obligation, purely because of how the water reached the crop.

Growing food on a hobby farm or allotment

Increasing numbers of Muslims in the West keep hobby farms, community allotment plots, or productive backyard gardens, and often wonder whether ushr applies to them at all. In most cases, small-scale hobby growing that stays well under the roughly 653 kilogram threshold per harvest, and that is grown mainly for household consumption rather than sale, does not trigger an ushr obligation. However, if your plot is genuinely productive at scale, for example a substantial market garden or a larger allotment producing several hundred kilograms of a single storable crop that you sell or store, it is worth actually weighing your harvest rather than assuming it falls under the threshold by default.

Common mistakes when calculating ushr

The most frequent error is applying the standard 2.5 percent wealth-zakat rate to crops instead of the correct 10 percent, 7.5 percent, or 5 percent ushr rates; ushr rates are two to four times higher than the wealth zakat rate people are used to. A second common mistake is waiting for a full lunar year to pass before paying, when ushr is due immediately at each harvest with no hawl requirement whatsoever. A third mistake is combining crop weight across multiple harvests in the same year to reach nisab, when in fact each harvest is generally assessed independently against the roughly 653 kilogram threshold. Finally, many people forget to distinguish irrigation method correctly, especially for land that used a mix of rain and paid irrigation during a single growing season, which calls for the blended 7.5 percent rate rather than defaulting to either extreme.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: AAOIFI Shariah Standards on zakat, classical fiqh texts on ushr and agricultural zakat, contemporary fatwa council guidance on crop nisab conversion and irrigation-based rates.