News Capsule: India's Kharif Sowing Down Nearly 5% as of July 24; Urad Acreage Improves
25-Jul-2026 10:14 AM
News Capsule: India's Kharif Sowing Down Nearly 5% as of July 24; Urad Acreage Improves
★ According to the latest data from the Ministry of Agriculture, kharif crops have been sown across 78.74 million hectares in India as of July 24, 2026, nearly 5% lower than the same period last year. Although sowing has improved slightly compared to last week, delayed monsoon onset and below-normal rainfall continue to affect planting progress across most crops.
★ Cumulative rainfall during June 1–July 24 stood at 319.2 mm, around 16% below the long-period average.
★ Paddy, the country's largest kharif crop, was sown over 23.4 million hectares, down 2.6% from a year ago. Maize acreage also declined sharply by 9.5% to 7.8 million hectares.
★ The pulses situation showed improvement, with the year-on-year shortfall narrowing to 7.5% from 15% a week earlier. The recovery was mainly driven by urad, whose acreage increased 8% to 1.9 million hectares. However, tur acreage remained nearly 12% lower than last year, while moong sowing declined by more than 5%.
★ Oilseed sowing was 2% lower year-on-year at 16.4 million hectares, with soybean acreage down 3% and groundnut down 1.4%.
★ Among cash crops, sugarcane and jute continued to post marginal gains over last year. Sugarcane acreage rose 1.5% to 5.8 million hectares, while cotton acreage declined nearly 4% to 9.9 million hectares.
★ Overall, despite gradual improvement in sowing activity, kharif acreage remains below last year's level due to delayed monsoon and deficient rainfall. Urad, sugarcane, and jute are the only major crops showing positive year-on-year growth, while paddy, maize, tur, moong, soybean, groundnut, and cotton continue to trail last year's sowing levels.