Rabi Crop Acreage Reaches 47.9 Million Hectares
09-Dec-2025 10:53 AM
New Delhi. Supported by favourable weather conditions, the sowing of Rabi crops has shown strong progress, with wheat, paddy, pulses, oilseeds, and coarse cereals all reporting higher acreage compared to last year. This season, wheat acreage in particular has seen a significant jump. According to the latest weekly report from the Union Agriculture Ministry, as of 5 September 2025, the total sown area under Rabi crops at the national level has increased to 47.9 million hectares, which is 2.79 million hectares higher than the 45.11 million hectares recorded during the same period last year.
As per official data, wheat sowing saw the highest increase of 2.36 million hectares, with acreage rising from 21.78 million hectares to 24.14 million hectares. Similarly, paddy acreage increased from 0.985 million hectares to 1.10 million hectares; pulses improved from 10.58 million hectares to 10.62 million hectares; and coarse cereals expanded from 3.595 million hectares to 3.63 million hectares. Oilseed crops also saw an increase, with the area rising from 8.175 million hectares to 8.415 million hectares.
Among pulse crops, chickpea acreage rose from 7.515 million hectares to 7.785 million hectares. However, lentil acreage declined from 1.4 million hectares to 1.3 million hectares; field pea acreage fell from 0.785 million hectares to 0.72 million hectares; horsegram dropped from 0.165 million hectares to 0.14 million hectares; and lathyrus declined from 0.255 million hectares to 0.23 million hectares. Moong sowing is slightly behind, but urad acreage has improved from 0.165 million hectares to 0.185 million hectares.
The situation for oilseeds is similar. Mustard acreage increased sharply from 7.645 million hectares to 7.99 million hectares, and there was some improvement in safflower and sunflower areas as well. However, groundnut sowing decreased from 0.23 million hectares to 0.18 million hectares, and linseed acreage dropped from 0.205 million hectares to 0.125 million hectares. Sesame sowing has only just begun.
Among coarse cereals, jowar acreage decreased from 1.855 million hectares to 1.81 million hectares, but ragi improved from 45,000 hectares to 65,000 hectares. Maize sowing increased from 1.105 million hectares to 1.14 million hectares, and barley acreage rose from 0.57 million hectares to 0.595 million hectares. The vigorous sowing of all Rabi crops is still underway.