Good rains in Karnataka lead to progress in early sowing of Kharif crops

17-Jun-2025 11:00 AM

Bangalore. Farmers in Karnataka are showing strong interest in cultivating maize and soybean this season, along with several other Kharif crops. The early onset of the southwest monsoon—7 to 8 days ahead of schedule—along with favorable pre-monsoon rainfall, has created ideal conditions for early sowing.

As a result, by mid-June, Kharif crop sowing in the state has already covered 20.42 lakh hectares, which is around 24 percent of the full-season target of 84.50 lakh hectares.

Data shows that during the same period last year, Kharif crops had been sown in 20.22 lakh hectares. Notably, the area under maize cultivation has increased by around 12 percent, rising from 5.68 lakh hectares last year to 6.37 lakh hectares this year. Karnataka, a major maize-producing state, has set a sowing target of 15.50 lakh hectares for maize this season.

While the sowing area for paddy, millet, and other coarse grains lags behind last year’s levels, the overall grain cultivation area has still risen from 6.84 lakh hectares to 7.43 lakh hectares due to the expansion in maize sowing.

In contrast, the area under pulses has declined from 4.91 lakh hectares to 4.61 lakh hectares. Within this category, moong sowing has slightly increased from 2.47 lakh hectares to 2.54 lakh hectares, but the area under pigeon pea (tuvar) has seen a sharp fall—from 1.65 lakh hectares to 1.12 lakh hectares.

Among oilseed crops, soybean cultivation has increased from 1.01 lakh hectares to 1.24 lakh hectares, and sunflower from 25,000 hectares to 27,000 hectares. However, sowing of other oilseeds has been lower compared to last year.

In the case of cash or industrial crops, the area under cotton has declined from 1.59 lakh hectares to 1.44 lakh hectares, and sugarcane from 4.22 lakh hectares to 4.20 lakh hectares. Meanwhile, sowing of minor crops continues actively across the state.