India’s Kharif Sowing Reaches 1,086 Lakh Hectares as Pulses Gain Despite Lower Rice Acreage

India’s kharif sowing has reached 1,086.31 lakh hectares as of September 4, 2026, with pulses and jute showing higher coverage than a year earlier even as acreage under rice, oilseeds, cotton and coarse cereals remains lower.

According to the latest All India Progressive Crop Area Sown Report released by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, total kharif coverage stood at 1,086.31 lakh hectares compared with 1,104 lakh hectares during the corresponding period of 2025-26, a difference of 17.69 lakh hectares.

The overall decline has been driven primarily by lower rice acreage, while pulses have emerged as one of the stronger-performing crop groups during the current season.

Pulses Record Higher Sowing

Area under pulses has increased to 117.13 lakh hectares, compared with 115.30 lakh hectares at the same stage last year, representing an increase of 1.84 lakh hectares.

The expansion has been led by Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh alone recorded an increase of 3.97 lakh hectares, while Jharkhand added 0.98 lakh hectares and Telangana 0.90 lakh hectares.

These gains more than compensated for declines in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Odisha.

Within the pulses category, urad acreage increased strongly to 25.15 lakh hectares from 22.46 lakh hectares, while tur coverage increased to 45.66 lakh hectares from 44.93 lakh hectares. Moong acreage, however, declined to 33.19 lakh hectares from 34.23 lakh hectares.

The rise in pulses acreage is particularly significant for India because increased domestic production can help strengthen supplies of an important source of dietary protein and reduce dependence on imports when crop conditions remain favourable through harvesting.

Rice Area Falls by More Than 16 Lakh Hectares

Rice has recorded the largest reduction among the major kharif crops.

Around 421.82 lakh hectares have been planted with rice so far, compared with 438.19 lakh hectares during the corresponding period last year. This represents a reduction of 16.37 lakh hectares.

The Agriculture Ministry said the largest declines were recorded in Karnataka, where rice area fell by 4.28 lakh hectares, followed by Telangana with a reduction of 3.61 lakh hectares.

Lower coverage was also reported from Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

Assam and Odisha were among the states recording higher rice acreage, but these increases were not sufficient to offset reductions in the major declining states.

Despite the year-on-year decline, current rice sowing remains above the Agriculture Ministry’s stated normal area of 412 lakh hectares, indicating that the current season’s acreage is lower primarily in comparison with the unusually higher coverage recorded during the previous year.

Coarse Cereals Show Mixed Picture

Sowing under Shri Anna and coarse cereals reached 181.39 lakh hectares, against 182.48 lakh hectares last year, a decrease of 1.09 lakh hectares.

The aggregate figure, however, conceals substantial differences between individual crops.

Bajra acreage increased to 64.86 lakh hectares from 62.87 lakh hectares, while jowar increased to 13.58 lakh hectares from 12.61 lakh hectares.

Maize moved in the opposite direction, declining to 91.09 lakh hectares from 94.08 lakh hectares, while ragi acreage fell to 7.60 lakh hectares from 8.77 lakh hectares.

At the state level, lower coarse-cereal acreage in Karnataka and Maharashtra was partly offset by increases across Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand.

Oilseed Coverage Remains Marginally Lower

Total oilseed acreage stood at 191.99 lakh hectares, slightly below the 193.06 lakh hectares recorded during the corresponding period last year.

The reduction of 1.07 lakh hectares was mainly associated with Rajasthan and Gujarat, although Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh recorded higher coverage.

Soybean, India’s most important kharif oilseed by acreage, covered 121.82 lakh hectares, down from 122.98 lakh hectares last year.

Groundnut acreage similarly declined to 49.61 lakh hectares from 50.44 lakh hectares.

Some smaller oilseeds performed better. Sesamum acreage increased from 9.50 lakh hectares to 10.94 lakh hectares, while sunflower coverage rose from 0.64 lakh hectares to 1.25 lakh hectares.

Cotton Sowing at 109.17 Lakh Hectares

Cotton acreage stood at 109.17 lakh hectares, compared with 109.87 lakh hectares during the same period last year, leaving coverage lower by around 0.69 lakh hectares.

Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab accounted for much of the decline.

Telangana and Gujarat, however, registered higher cotton acreage. Telangana added around 1.14 lakh hectares while Gujarat recorded an increase of 0.66 lakh hectares compared with the corresponding period of the previous season.

Sugarcane Slightly Lower, Jute and Mesta Higher

Sugarcane cultivation covered 58.47 lakh hectares, marginally below the 58.87 lakh hectares recorded a year earlier.

Bihar and Uttarakhand recorded notable declines, while Uttar Pradesh and Haryana reported higher acreage.

Jute and mesta were among the few crop categories showing an overall increase.

Combined acreage reached 6.34 lakh hectares, compared with 6.24 lakh hectares last year. Bihar and West Bengal were the principal contributors to this improvement.

Kharif Acreage Remains Close to Normal Despite Year-on-Year Decline

The latest figures show that India’s overall kharif acreage is below the exceptionally high coverage recorded at the same point last year, but remains relatively close to the government’s normal kharif area of 1,104.46 lakh hectares.

The composition of sowing is also changing.

Higher pulses acreage, particularly in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Telangana, provides a positive signal, while reduced rice coverage accounts for most of the difference in total sowing compared with 2025-26.

Oilseeds and cotton have registered relatively modest reductions, while bajra, jowar, urad and sesamum are among individual crops showing increased acreage.

With the sowing season now at an advanced stage, the focus will increasingly shift from acreage to crop development, rainfall distribution, reservoir availability, pest incidence and yields. These factors will ultimately determine whether the 2026-27 kharif season translates the current 1,086-lakh-hectare cultivation base into stronger agricultural production.

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