Area under pulse crops increases by 3.44 lakh hectares

06-Jan-2026 04:59 PM

New Delhi: Although the area under pulse crops during the current Rabi season has increased by 3.44 lakh hectares to 134.30 lakh hectares compared to last year's 130.87 lakh hectares, this has been possible mainly due to gram (chickpea), which has seen a significant increase in its acreage.

The area under lentil has also increased slightly, while the area under moong (green gram) remains the same as last year. On the other hand, the area under peas, urad (black gram), kulthi (horse gram), khesari (grass pea), and other pulses has decreased. Sowing of pulses is almost complete.

It is noteworthy that the total area under pulse crops in the 2024-25 Rabi season was recorded at 134.08 lakh hectares, while the 2025-26 acreage has surpassed it by 22,000 hectares. However, this sown area is still 6.12 lakh hectares behind the five-year average area of ​​140.42 lakh hectares.

According to official figures, compared to last year, the area under gram (chickpea) during the current Rabi season has increased from 91.22 lakh hectares to 95.88 lakh hectares,

and the area under lentil has improved from 16.85 lakh hectares to 17.06 lakh hectares, while the area under moong (green gram) remained at the previous level of 60,000 hectares.

On the other hand, during the period under review, the area under peas decreased from 8.27 lakh hectares to 7.92 lakh hectares, the area under kulthi (horse gram) fell from 2.41 lakh hectares to 1.90 lakh hectares,

the area under urad (black gram) decreased from 4.27 lakh hectares to 3.98 lakh hectares, and the area under khesari (grass pea) slipped from 2.92 lakh hectares to 2.87 lakh hectares. The area under other pulses also declined from 4.34 lakh hectares to 4.10 lakh hectares.