Crop Report
India kharif acreage down 1.6% on year at 108.63 million hectares as of Friday
This story was originally published at 17:08 IST on 4 September 2026
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MUMBAI – Farmers across the country have sown kharif crops on 108.63 million hectares as of Friday, down 1.6% from 110.40 million hectares a year ago, according to data from the agriculture ministry. Sowing of crops including paddy, maize, moong, and soybean was lower on year.
The area under paddy, the largest kharif crop, declined 3.7% on year to 42.18 million hectares, and maize acreage fell 3.2% on year to 9.11 million hectares, data showed. Total pulses acreage was 11.71 million hectares, up 1.6% from a year ago.
Total oilseed acreage fell 0.6% on year to 19.19 million hectares, as declines in groundnut and soybean were not offset by gains in sunflower, which rose 95.7% on year. The area under soybean, the major oilseed sown during the kharif season, fell 0.9% on year to 12.18 million hectares, while groundnut area fell 1.7% to 4.96 million hectares.
Among cash crops, the area under jute rose nearly 2% on year, but sugarcane and cotton acreage declined nearly 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively, the data showed. Kharif sowing is nearing completion, and farmers have so far sown crops on more than 98% 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 25 (mln ha) | Change (%) |
| Paddy | 42.18 | 43.82 | -3.74 |
| Tur | 4.57 | 4.49 | 1.61 |
| Urad | 2.52 | 2.25 | 11.95 |
| Moong | 3.32 | 3.42 | -3.05 |
| Total Pulses* | 11.71 | 11.53 | 1.60 |
| Maize | 9.11 | 9.41 | -3.18 |
| Bajra | 6.48 | 6.29 | 3.16 |
| Jowar | 1.36 | 1.26 | 7.73 |
| Total Coarse Cereals* | 18.14 | 18.25 | -0.60 |
| Groundnut | 4.96 | 5.04 | -1.65 |
| Soybean | 12.18 | 12.29 | -0.94 |
| Total Oilseeds* | 19.19 | 19.31 | -0.56 |
| Sugarcane | 5.85 | 5.89 | -0.69 |
| Jute & Mesta | 0.63 | 0.62 | 1.68 |
| Cotton | 10.92 | 10.99 | -0.63 |
| Grand Total* | 108.63 | 110.40 | -1.6 |
* The total figures will not tally due to the omission of some smaller crops
End
Reported by Ritwika Dutta
Edited by Saji George Titus
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