Kharif Crop Area Exceeds 995 Lakh Hectares

12-Aug-2025 11:06 AM

New Delhi. With the increase in the area of paddy, coarse grains and sugarcane, the total production area of Kharif crops has increased to 995.63 lakh hectares by 8 August 2025, which is 38.48 lakh hectares more than the sowing area of 957.15 lakh hectares during the same period last year.

The area of pulses crops is almost the same as last year, but there has been a decrease in the area of oilseeds crops and cotton. The campaign for cultivation of Kharif crops is still going on.

The latest weekly data of the Union Agriculture Ministry shows that during the current Kharif season, compared to last year, the paddy production area jumped from 325.36 lakh hectares to 364.80 lakh hectares,

the sowing area of pulses improved from 106.52 lakh hectares to 106.68 lakh hectares and the area of coarse cereals increased from 170.96 lakh hectares to 178.73 lakh hectares, but the area of oilseeds decreased from 182.43 lakh hectares to 175.61 lakh hectares.

Among cash or industrial crops, the production area of sugarcane increased from 55.68 lakh hectares to 57.31 lakh hectares, but the sowing area of cotton decreased from 110.49 lakh hectares to 106.96 lakh hectares.

Among pulse crops, the production area of Arhar (Tuvar) is lagging behind by two lakh hectares from last year. Earlier, the sowing area of Urad was also behind but now it has gone ahead by 24 thousand hectares. Earlier, the area of Moong was much ahead of last year but now its lead has come down to around 88 thousand hectares. The area of other pulses is normal.

Among oilseed crops, the production area of soybean, groundnut and sesame has declined as compared to last year. Sowing area of soybean has slipped from 124.24 lakh hectares to 119.51 lakh hectares,

area of sesame has fallen from 9.81 lakh hectares to 8.89 lakh hectares and area of groundnut has come down from 45.06 lakh hectares to 43.23 lakh hectares. There has been some ups and downs in the area of other oilseeds as well.

Among coarse cereals, as expected, there has been a tremendous increase in the sowing of maize and its production area has jumped from 83.15 lakh hectares last year to 91.89 lakh hectares this time.

On the other hand, the sowing area of sorghum and millet has gone down compared to last year while the area under ragi has improved by 26 thousand hectares and reached 4.41 lakh hectares.