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, registering a decline of 38.82 lakh hectares, according to data released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
Among major crops, rice was sown across 234.43 lakh hectares, down from 240.62 lakh hectares during the same period in 2025, a decrease of 6.19 lakh hectares.
The area under pulses also declined to 84.57 lakh hectares, compared with 91.46 lakh hectares a year earlier, reflecting a reduction of 6.90 lakh hectares. Within the pulses category, arhar acreage fell by 4.10 lakh hectares to 31.17 lakh hectares, while moongbean declined by 1.50 lakh hectares to 26.89 lakh hectares. However, urdbean recorded an increase, with sowing expanding to 18.67 lakh hectares from 17.27 lakh hectares last year.
Sowing of Shri Anna (millets) and coarse cereals witnessed the sharpest decline among major crop groups. The area under these crops stood at 142.21 lakh hectares, compared with 161.49 lakh hectares during the corresponding period in 2025, a decrease of 19.28 lakh hectares.
Within the category, maize acreage declined by 8.36 lakh hectares to 77.79 lakh hectares, while bajra fell by 8.54 lakh hectares to 49.54 lakh hectares. Sowing under jowar and ragi also declined by 1.38 lakh hectares and 0.60 lakh hectares, respectively.
The area under oilseeds stood at 163.54 lakh hectares, down by 3.45 lakh hectares from 167.00 lakh hectares during the same period last year. Soybean, the largest oilseed crop, was sown over 113.65 lakh hectares, a decline of 3.59 lakh hectares, while groundnut acreage remained largely stable at 40.20 lakh hectares. In contrast, sunflower and sesamum recorded marginal increases in sowing area.
Among commercial crops, cotton acreage declined to 98.72 lakh hectares, compared with 102.71 lakh hectares last year, a reduction of 3.99 lakh hectares.
On the other hand, sugarcane and jute & mesta registered modest gains. Sugarcane was planted across 57.58 lakh hectares, up by 0.86 lakh hectares, while jute and mesta covered 6.32 lakh hectares, an increase of 0.13 lakh hectares over the corresponding period in 2025.
The Ministry’s data compares the area sown up to July 24, 2026, with the corresponding period of the previous year. The normal kharif area, based on the average from 2020-21 to 2024-25, is estimated at 1,104.46 lakh hectares, while the final kharif area coverage in 2025 stood at 1,134.27 lakh hectares.
