Rabi Pulse Acreage Up on Chickpea Sowing
30-Dec-2025 08:21 PM
New Delhi: During the current Rabi season, the sowing area of all major pulse crops, except chickpeas, has decreased compared to last year.
However, a significant increase in chickpea acreage has resulted in the total area under pulses exceeding last year's figures. This clearly indicates that the decline in sowing of other pulses has not been drastic.
According to data from the Union Ministry of Agriculture, the total sowing area for pulse crops increased to 133.40 lakh hectares by December 26 this year, which is 3.65 lakh hectares more than the 129.79 lakh hectares cultivated during the same period last year.
While the area under chickpeas jumped from 91.22 lakh hectares to 95.88 lakh hectares, the area under lentils decreased from 8.27 lakh hectares to 7.92 lakh hectares.
Similarly, the sowing area for masoor (red lentils) increased from 16.85 lakh hectares to 17.06 lakh hectares, but the area under kulthi (horse gram) decreased from 2.38 lakh hectares to 1.84 lakh hectares.
Furthermore, the area under urad (black gram) decreased from 3.86 lakh hectares to 3.63 lakh hectares, and the area under khesari (grass pea) slipped from 2.84 lakh hectares to 2.82 lakh hectares.
The sowing area for moong (green gram) remains stable at around 50-52 thousand hectares, similar to last year, while the area under other pulses has decreased from 3.86 lakh hectares last year to 3.76 lakh hectares in the current Rabi season.
Indian farmers continue to show enthusiasm and interest in cultivating chickpeas, the most important pulse crop of the Rabi season.
Significant increases in chickpea sowing area are being observed in important producing states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, but the sowing is not encouraging in some other states, including Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
The area under lentils was initially lagging but is now 21,000 hectares ahead of last year's figures. The total area under pulse crops during the entire Rabi season of 2024-25 was recorded at 134.08 lakh hectares.