Despite good rains in Telangana, sowing of Kharif crops is much behind last year

19-Jun-2025 11:01 AM

Hyderabad. Although the southwest monsoon has brought good rainfall to Telangana this year, and pre-monsoon rains were also normal, sowing of Kharif crops is still significantly behind compared to last year.

Telangana, a major producer of rice and cotton in South India, has seen a sharp decline in cotton acreage and a notable decrease in pulses cultivation.

As of June 18, the total Kharif crop sowing area in Telangana dropped by 6.11 lakh acres—from 25.28 lakh acres last year to 19.17 lakh acres this year.

While the area under grain crops, including paddy, slightly increased from 98,000 acres to 1.03 lakh acres and oilseed sowing surged from 34,000 acres to 1.04 lakh acres, the area under pulses declined steeply from 1.17 lakh acres to 55,000 acres. Cotton cultivation also saw a sharp fall from 19.59 lakh acres to 15.27 lakh acres.

Among cereals, the paddy area rose from 34,000 acres to 36,000 acres, jowar increased from 14,000 to 18,000 acres, and ragi rose from just 20 acres to 55 acres. However, the area under maize decreased marginally from 50,000 acres to around 49,000 acres.

In pulses, tur (tuvar) saw a significant decline from 1.01 lakh acres to 51,000 acres. Moong dropped from 14,000 to 4,000 acres and urad slipped from 2,000 to 1,000 acres.

Soybean is the main oilseed crop in the state, and its area jumped from 32,000 acres to more than 1.04 lakh acres. In addition, peanuts have been sown on 52 acres and castor on 80 acres.

Sugarcane acreage has reached nearly 6,000 acres, while the sowing of other crops is progressing at a normal pace.

Farmers appear less enthusiastic about cotton this season, largely due to weak market prices in the 2024–25 marketing season, which forced many to sell their stock to government agencies.

Telangana is India’s third-largest cotton-producing state. Sowing activity is expected to pick up in the coming days.