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Informist, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The area under kharif crops across the country was 109.7 million hectares as of Friday, down 1.4% from 111.3 million hectares a year ago, according to data from the agriculture ministry. Sowing of paddy, maize, and moong, among other crops, was lower on year. 

 

The area under paddy, the largest kharif crop, declined nearly 4% on year to 42.7 million hectares, and that under maize fell nearly 3% on year to 9.2 million hectares, the data showed. Total pulses acreage was 11.9 million acres, up over 1% from a year ago.

 

Oilseed acreage nearly caught up with last year's acreage to 19.4 million hectares, with the acreage of groundnut and soybean being almost on par with a year ago. Sunflower acreage was 92% more than a year ago, the data showed. Soybean acreage so far is 12.2 million hectares, just 0.8% lower than a year ago. Groundnut acreage so far is 5.05 million hectares, down 0.4% on year. 

 

Among cash crops, the area under jute was nearly 2% more than a year ago at 613,000 hectares. Sugarcane acreage showed a slight improvement from last week at 5.9 million hectares, down 0.7% from a year ago. Cotton acreage was at 10.9 million hectares, down nearly 1% on year. Kharif sowing is nearing completion, and farmers have so far sown crops over 99% of the normal area of 110.44 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 2025 (mln ha)	Change (%)
Paddy	42.68	44.38	-3.82
Tur	4.61	4.55	1.42
Urad	2.55	2.28	11.87
Moong	3.33	3.45	-3.43
Total Pulses*	11.85	11.68	1.43
Maize	9.16	9.41	-2.65
Bajra	6.49	6.29	3.18
Jowar	1.37	1.26	8.73
Total Coarse Cereals*	18.32	18.25	0.38
Groundnut	5.05	5.07	-0.42
Soybean	12.21	12.31	-0.81
Total Oilseeds*	19.39	19.41	-0.10
Sugarcane	5.85	5.89	-0.68
Jute & Mesta	0.63	0.62	1.61
Cotton	10.93	11.03	-0.9
Grand Total*	109.65	111.25	-1.44

 

* The total figures will not tally due to the omission of some smaller crops

 

End

 

Reported by Upasika Singhal

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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