Crop Report
India kharif crop acreage down 1.7% on year as of Friday
This story was originally published at 20:41 IST on 28 August 2026
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NEW DELHI – Farmers across the country have sown kharif crops on 107.1 million hectares as of Friday, down 1.7% from 109.0 million hectares a year ago, according to data from the agriculture ministry. Sowing of paddy, maize, moong, soybean, and many other crops was lower on year.
The area under paddy, the largest kharif crop, declined over 3% on year to 41.4 million hectares, and maize acreage fell 4% on year to 9.0 million hectares, data showed. Total pulses acreage was 11.5 million hectares, up 1% from the previous year.
Oilseed acreage fell 0.5% on year to 19.1 million hectares, as declines in soybean and other oilseeds were not offset by gains in sunflower, which was nearly 81% higher than last year. The area under soybean, the major oilseed sown during the kharif season, fell 1% on year to 12.2 million hectares, while groundnut area fell over 1% to 4.9 million hectares.
Among cash crops, the area under jute rose nearly 2% on year, but sugarcane and cotton acreage declined nearly 0.7% and 0.4%, respectively, the data showed. Kharif sowing is nearing completion, and farmers have so far sown crops over 97% of the normal area of 110.42 million hectares.
The following table details the sowing of key kharif crops as of Friday, in million hectares, compared with year-ago levels and the year-on-year change in percentage terms:
| Crop | Acreage 2026 (mln ha) | Acreage 25 (mln ha) | Change (%) |
| Paddy | 41.41 | 42.85 | -3.3 |
| Tur | 4.46 | 4.43 | 0.6 |
| Urad | 2.47 | 2.21 | 11.6 |
| Moong | 3.29 | 3.4 | -3.1 |
| Total Pulses* | 11.5 | 11.37 | 1.2 |
| Maize | 8.99 | 9.39 | -4.1 |
| Bajra | 6.48 | 6.36 | 1.8 |
| Jowar | 1.35 | 1.26 | 6.9 |
| Total Coarse Cereals* | 17.79 | 18.21 | -2.3 |
| Groundnut | 4.91 | 4.97 | -1.3 |
| Soybean | 12.2 | 12.3 | -1 |
| Total Oilseeds* | 19.05 | 19.15 | -0.5 |
| Sugarcane | 5.85 | 5.89 | -0.7 |
| Jute & Mesta | 0.63 | 0.62 | 1.6 |
| Cotton | 10.88 | 10.92 | -0.4 |
| Grand Total* | 107.1 | 109 | -1.7 |
* The total figures will not tally due to the omission of some smaller crops
End
Reported by Upasika Singhal
Edited by Saji George Titus
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