More Stories

Informist, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026

 

Please click here to read all liners published on this story

--India kharif acreage 110.4 mln ha so far vs 111.9 mln ha year ago
--India kharif paddy acreage 42.9 mln ha so far vs 44.6 mln ha year ago
--India kharif pulses acreage 11.9 mln ha so far vs 11.8 mln ha year ago
--India kharif tur acreage 4.7 mln ha so far vs 4.6 mln ha year ago
--India kharif urad acreage 2.6 mln ha so far vs 2.3 mln ha year ago
--India kharif moong acreage 3.3 mln ha so far vs 3.5 mln ha year ago
--India kharif oilseeds acreage so far 19.4 mln ha, flat from year ago
--India kharif soybean acreage 12.2 mln ha so far vs 12.3 mln ha year ago
--India kharif groundnut acreage 5.07 mln ha so far vs 5.08 mln ha year ago
--India kharif coarse cereals acreage 18.6 mln ha so far vs 18.5 mln ha
--India kharif maize acreage 9.3 mln ha so far vs 9.5 mln ha year ago
--India kharif jowar acreage 1.4 mln ha so far vs 1.3 mln ha year ago
--India kharif bajra acreage 6.5 mln ha so far vs 6.3 mln ha year ago
--India kharif sugarcane acreage 5.85 mln ha so far vs 5.89 mln ha yr ago
--India kharif cotton acreage 11.0 mln ha so far vs 11.1 mln ha year ago

 

NEW DELHI – The area under kharif crops across the country was 110.4 million hectares as of Friday, down 1.3% from 111.9 million hectares a year ago, according to data from the agriculture ministry. Sowing of paddy, moong, and maize was lower than last year.

 

The area under paddy, the largest kharif crop, declined nearly 4% on year to 42.9 million hectares from 44.6 million hectares. The area under maize fell over 2% on year to 9.2 million hectares, the data showed.

 

Total pulses acreage rose over 1% on year to 11.9 million hectares, as increased cultivation of tur and urad has offset a fall in moong. Moong acreage fell nearly 4% on year, but urad acreage rose nearly 12% and tur acreage rose 2% from last year. 

 

Total oilseed acreage was largely flat so far on year at 19.5 million hectares as marginal reductions in soybean and groundnut cultivation were offset by higher sowing of sunflower and sesamum seeds. Groundnut acreage fell 0.3% on year to 5.1 million hectares and soybean acreage was down 0.7% at 12.2 million hectares. Meanwhile, sunflower area was up 84% on year at 129,000 hectares and sesamum area rose 13% on year to 1.1 million hectares. 

 

Among cash crops, the area under jute and mesta was nearly 2% higher than last year at 635,000 hectares. Sugarcane acreage was down 0.7% on year at 5.8 million hectares. Cotton acreage was nearly 11 million hectares, down 1% on year. Kharif sowing is nearing completion, and farmers have so far sown crops over 99% of the normal area of 110.45 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	42.93	44.59	-3.7
Urad	2.58	2.31	11.9
Moong	3.34	3.47	-3.9
Total Pulses*	11.96	11.79	1.4
Maize	9.27	9.48	-2.2
Bajra	6.49	6.28	3.3
Jowar	1.37	1.26	9.4
Total Coarse Cereals*	18.57	18.46	0.6
Groundnut	5.06	5.08	-0.3
Soybean	12.22	12.31	-0.7
Total Oilseeds*	19.47	19.47	0.00
Sugarcane	5.84	5.88	-0.7
Jute & Mesta	0.63	0.62	1.7
Cotton	10.96	11.06	-0.9
Grand Total*	110.39	111.89	-1.3

 

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

 

End

 

Reported by Upasika Singhal

Edited by Himanshi Gupta

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.