COMMODITY
Area sown under kharif crops stands at 787.37 lakh hectares as of July 24
Jul-28-2026

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in its data has showed that the total area sown under kharif crops stood at 787.37 lakh hectares as of July 24, 2026, compared with 826.19 lakh hectares during the corresponding period last year, a fall of 4.70%. As per the data, acreage under rice, pulses, coarse cereals, oilseeds and cotton has declined compared to the same period in 2025.

Rice cultivation covered 234.43 lakh hectares, lower than 240.62 lakh hectares recorded a year ago, reflecting a decline of 6.19 lakh hectares. Also, the sharpest reduction was seen in pulses at 84.57 lakh hectares compared to 91.46 lakh hectares last year, fall of 6.90 lakh hectares. Among pulse crops, arhar (tur) recorded a decline in acreage by 4.10 lakh hectares, moong bean by 1.50 lakh hectares, moth bean by 2.60 lakh hectares, while and urdbean acreage increase by 1.39 lakh hectares and Kulthi by 0.02 lakh hectares.

Area under Shri Anna (millets) and coarse cereals witnessed a significant drop of 19.28 lakh hectares to 142.21 lakh hectares. Bajra and Maize accounted for the largest fall, with acreage reducing by 8.54 lakh hectares and 8.36 lakh hectares, respectively, while jowar, ragi and small millets also registered lower sowing compared to the corresponding period last year.

Sowing of oilseeds declined by 3.45 lakh hectares to 163.54 lakh hectares. The reduction was led by soybean, where acreage fell by 3.59 lakh hectares, followed by groundnut by 0.58 lakh hectares. Smaller declines were also recorded in niger and castor, although sunflower and sesamum registered marginal increases.

The area under cotton stood at 98.72 lakh hectares, down by 3.99 lakh hectares from 102.71 lakh hectares during the same period in 2025. In contrast, sugarcane and jute & mesta recorded modest gains. Sugarcane acreage increased to 57.58 lakh hectares, an increase of 0.86 lakh hectares, while jute and mesta acreage rose marginally by 0.13 lakh hectares to 6.32 lakh hectares. 

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