India’s Summer Crop Coverage Rises to 86.02 Lakh Hectares, Pulses, Millets and Oilseeds Lead Expansion

India’s summer crop sowing has recorded a steady increase in 2026, with total area coverage reaching 86.02 lakh hectares as of 22 May 2026, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. This marks an increase of 2.52 lakh hectares over the corresponding period of last year, when summer crop coverage stood at 83.50 lakh hectares. The official data was released by PIB on 25 May 2026.

The latest figures indicate that the summer cropping season has remained broadly positive, especially in pulses, Shree Anna and coarse cereals, and oilseeds. These three categories have helped offset the decline seen in rice acreage. The trend is important because summer crops play a supporting role in India’s food security system, improving the availability of pulses, edible oils, coarse grains and fodder-linked crops between the major rabi and kharif seasons.

Rice continues to occupy the largest share among summer crops, but its coverage has declined this year. The area under summer rice stands at 31.05 lakh hectares, compared with 32.42 lakh hectares during the same period last year, showing a reduction of 1.36 lakh hectares. Even with this decline, rice remains a major summer crop, supported by irrigation access in several states and localised cultivation systems.

Pulses have shown a stronger performance. Total pulses acreage has reached 27.91 lakh hectares, up from 27.26 lakh hectares last year. The increase of 0.65 lakh hectares reflects continued farmer interest in short-duration pulses during the summer window. Within pulses, blackgram has registered a notable rise, moving from 3.58 lakh hectares last year to 4.60 lakh hectares this year. Greengram, however, has declined from 23.49 lakh hectares to 23.01 lakh hectares, while other pulses have increased to 0.30 lakh hectares.

The strongest signal in the data comes from Shree Anna and coarse cereals, whose coverage has expanded to 16.01 lakh hectares, compared with 14.25 lakh hectares during the same period in 2025. This is an increase of 1.77 lakh hectares. The rise is led mainly by maize, which has reached 10.00 lakh hectares, up from 8.50 lakh hectares last year. Bajra has also increased to 5.40 lakh hectares, while jowar, ragi and small millets have shown modest gains.

This growth in coarse cereals carries significance beyond acreage numbers. Millets and maize are climate-resilient crops, often requiring less water than paddy and fitting well into diversified farming systems. Their expansion during the summer season strengthens India’s push towards crop diversification, nutritional security and better use of land between main cropping cycles.

Oilseeds have also recorded a healthy increase. The total area under summer oilseeds has reached 11.04 lakh hectares, against 9.58 lakh hectares during the corresponding period last year, an increase of 1.47 lakh hectares. Groundnut has been the main driver, rising sharply from 4.20 lakh hectares to 5.51 lakh hectares. Sesamum has increased to 5.07 lakh hectares, while sunflower has grown slightly to 0.39 lakh hectares.

The oilseed numbers are particularly important for India’s agricultural economy because the country continues to focus on reducing dependence on imported edible oils. Higher acreage under groundnut, sesamum and sunflower during the summer season can support domestic oilseed availability, improve farmer incomes in suitable regions and contribute to a more balanced cropping pattern.

Overall, the latest summer sowing figures present a positive picture of Indian agriculture. The total area has crossed both last year’s corresponding level and the normal summer area of 75.37 lakh hectares. The rise in pulses, coarse cereals and oilseeds shows that farmers are increasingly using the summer season for diversified cultivation rather than relying on a narrow crop basket.

India’s summer crop progress in 2026 therefore reflects more than a seasonal acreage update. It points to a farming system that is gradually becoming broader, more nutrition-oriented and better aligned with national priorities such as pulse availability, millet promotion and oilseed self-reliance. While rice acreage has softened, the expansion in other crop groups has helped lift the overall summer cultivation area, giving the season a strong agricultural outlook.