India's rabi acreage down 46% as sowing of all crops gets delayed

Coverage of mustard down 47%, under pulses 52% and gram by 59%, while the area under paddy and wheat is also lower

The area under India's rabi crops is down by 46 per cent, with 37.56 lakh hectares (lh) being covered as of October 30 against 69.02 lh a year ago, according to a weekly update on rabi crop sowing released by the Union Agriculture Ministry on Monday. This includes 20.50 lh under mustard, down by 47 per cent from 38.07 lh, and 9.45 lh under pulses, down by 52 per cent from 19.56 lh year-ago. Also, the winter-grown paddy has been transplanted on 3.16 lh against 3.29 lh.

In the pulses category, gram acreage stood at 5.90 lh, down 59 per cent from 14.35 lh, while lentil (masur) acreage stood at 1.10 lh, compared with 2.14 lh.

The rabi season's main crop, wheat, has been sown on 19,000 hectares, compared with 3.34 lakh hectares a year ago, the data show. The main sowing window for wheat begins in the first week of November and continues for about two months, varying from State to State.

Sowing to pick up

Officials said that while earlier there was insufficient moisture, high temperatures during daytime were also not conducive for sowing. As the temperature has started cooling, the sowing is expected to pick up. Data show that the sowing area during the week ending October 30 was 19.54 lh as against 40.76 lh year-ago, down by 52 per cent.

Meanwhile, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday reviewed the progress of rabi crop sowing and kharif harvesting at an internal meeting with senior officials.

Chouhan was briefed on challenges arising from drought, cyclones and erratic rainfall in various parts of the country. He directed officials to formulate a robust strategy in the best interests of farmers, stressing that they must be treated with utmost sensitivity during times of crisis and that there should be no procedural delays in relief operations.

Kharif harvest underway

Officials told the Minister that harvesting of kharif crops was underway across the country, with moong (green gram) and soybean harvesting nearing completion. Chouhan asked officials to ensure that rabi sowing was accelerated immediately after harvesting, making optimal use of the residual moisture in fields. He also directed them to encourage farmers in areas with limited irrigation facilities to cultivate less water-intensive and lower-cost crops, such as chickpea (gram), mustard, lentil and coarse cereals, an official statement said.

He also emphasised that improved, climate-resilient and heat-tolerant seeds developed by agricultural scientists should be made available to farmers, taking into account temperature fluctuations.

"Farmers are receiving prices significantly higher than the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for major crops, including paddy, wheat, maize, gram, lentil, pigeon pea (arhar), soybean and mustard, ensuring better and more remunerative returns for their produce," the government said.

Production targets

Last year, wheat acreage reached a record 336 lakh hectares, compared with the five-year average of 315.23 lakh hectares, helping the country achieve an all-time high production of 120.66 million tonnes (mt). Wheat production is crucial for the country, as a marginal decline of less than 2 mt in the 2021-22 crop year led to a four-year export ban, which began in 2022.

The government has set a foodgrain production target of 177.72 million tonnes (mt) for the rabi season, including 121 mt of wheat, 17.20 mt of pulses and 22.30 mt of nutri/coarse cereals. Among other rabi crops, the production targets are 12.33 mt for gram, 2.1 mt for lentil, 14.3 mt for mustard and 2.42 mt for barley. The target for rabi rice has been fixed at 16.72 mt, marginally higher than the 16.69 mt set for maize, while the target for sorghum (jowar) stands at 3.19 mt.

Published on November 2, 2026