Urad Acreage Expected to Fall Below Last Year
05-Aug-2025 04:58 PM
New Delhi. Heavy rainfall and waterlogging in fields in major producing areas is affecting the sowing of Urad, while its area is also decreasing due to farmers giving more emphasis on cultivation of other alternative agricultural products like maize.
According to the data of the Union Agriculture Ministry, during the current Kharif season, the domestic production area of this important pulse crop has come down to 18.60 lakh hectares,
which is 50 thousand hectares behind the sowing area of 19.10 lakh hectares during the same period last year and 14 lakh hectares behind the normal average area of 32.60 lakh hectares. Since the ideal time of sowing is about to end now, it seems difficult to see much improvement in the area of Urad.
According to the available information, the production area of Urad has come down from 77 thousand hectares to 59 thousand hectares in Gujarat, but in Rajasthan it has improved from 2.97 lakh hectares to 3.12 lakh hectares.
The area under urad was lagging behind by 10% in Maharashtra and 11% in Telangana. In Andhra Pradesh, sowing is reported to have increased by 11%.
The secretary of a leading trade organization- India Pulses and Grains Association says that the time for sowing of urad is about to end, so there will not be much increase in the area.
Heavy rains are regularly occurring in the major producing areas of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Due to which not only the sowing of urad is getting badly affected, but in some areas the possibility of damage to the crop sown earlier has also increased.
According to a trader, the urad crop has been damaged to a great extent due to heavy rains in Ashok Nagar, Guna, Shivpuri belt in Madhya Pradesh.
The fields are either filled with water or there is a high amount of moisture, so re-sowing will not be possible there. This time the rain of the southwest monsoon was largely limited to the central, northwestern and northern regions of the country.
The major urad producing districts of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh received much more rain than the normal average. The urad crop is very sensitive and even a slight change in the climate can harm it.
The director of iGrain India says that the actual picture of sowing is yet to emerge. Some producing states release the sowing data late, so it may take about 15 days for the situation to become clear. But it seems that there may be a significant decline in the area this time.