Rabi crop acreage surpasses last year's, driven by mustard
28-Oct-2025 03:50 PM
New Delhi. Rabi crop sowing has begun, and as expected, mustard is seeing strong interest from farmers. The wholesale market price of this major oilseed crop of the Rabi season has been higher than the government support price for the past several months, providing farmers with attractive incomes.
According to the latest weekly data from the Union Agriculture Ministry, the total area under Rabi crops has improved to 27.46 lakh hectares from October 2-4, 2025, an increase of 54,000 hectares from the 26.92 lakh hectares sown during the same period last year.
This year's overall average area under Rabi crops is estimated at 637.37 lakh hectares, indicating that the sowing process will continue for a long time.
According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture, during the current Rabi season, compared to last year, the area under wheat fell from 66 thousand hectares to 35 thousand hectares and the area under paddy fell from 2.83 lakh hectares to 2.41 lakh hectares.
However, on the other hand, the area under pulses has improved from 4.38 lakh hectares to 4.50 lakh hectares, the area under oilseeds has jumped from 18.98 lakh hectares to 20 lakh hectares and the area under coarse grains has increased from 7 thousand hectares to 20 thousand hectares.
Among pulses crops, the area under gram has increased from 2.89 lakh hectares to 3.19 lakh hectares and the area under horse gram has improved from 13 thousand hectares to 19 thousand hectares.
However, the area under lentils has declined from 69 thousand hectares to 49 thousand hectares and the area under peas has stagnated from 50 thousand hectares to 36 thousand hectares.
Urad, Moong and Khesari and other pulse crops have been cultivated in a very limited area. Among coarse grains, Jowar has been sown in 17 thousand hectares and Maize in 3 thousand hectares.
In the category of oilseeds, the production area of mustard has jumped from 18.72 lakh hectares last year to 19.78 lakh hectares this time, whereas groundnut has been sown in 10 thousand hectares and linseed in 7 thousand hectares. The area of sunflower has reached 4 thousand hectares.