Oilseed Acreage Up 7 Lakh Hectares from Last Year
12-Aug-2025 10:34 AM
New Delhi. Sowing of all three major oilseed crops of Kharif season - soybean, groundnut and sesame is lagging behind last year, due to which the total area under oilseed crops has decreased by about 7 lakh hectares. This may hamper the government's efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in the production of edible oils.
Although the government has made a good increase in the minimum support price (MSP) of the above three pulse crops and record government purchase of soybean and groundnut was also done in the last season,
but still the enthusiasm and attraction of farmers in its cultivation has decreased. One reason for this is the low market price and the other reason is the increased interest of farmers in maize cultivation.
The latest data of the Union Agriculture Ministry shows that in the current Kharif season, till August 8, 2025, the total production area of oilseed crops at the national level has come down to 175.61 lakh hectares, which is 6.82 lakh hectares less than the sowing area of 182.43 lakh hectares during the same period last year.
Under this, the production area of soybean slipped from 124.24 lakh hectares to 119.51 lakh hectares, the sowing area of groundnut fell from 45.06 lakh hectares to 43.23 lakh hectares and the area of sesame fell from 9.81 lakh hectares to 8.89 lakh hectares.
Along with this, the area of sunflower and niger seed is also lagging behind last year. It is worth mentioning that the five-year average area of oilseed crops for the current Kharif season has been estimated at 194.63 lakh hectares, whereas the actual area is still 19 lakh hectares behind that.
Except castor, sowing of other oilseeds has reached its final stage. Though the wholesale market price of soybean has increased a lot in recent weeks, but since the ideal time for sowing is almost over, it seems difficult to see much improvement in its area.
The normal average area for soybean has been fixed at 127.19 lakh hectares and for groundnut at 45.10 lakh hectares. Sowing of oilseeds has decreased in some other states including Rajasthan. However, the sowing process is still going on in some areas.