Farmers in India have completed planting of winter crops in over 75 per cent of the normal area 637.81 lakh hectares (lh) this year as per latest data of the agriculture ministry. While mustard, the key oilseed crop of the Rabi season, and barley have exceeded their normal area, wheat, chana (gram), masur (lentil), maize and paddy are likely to reach the season’s average in next few weeks.
The total area under all agriculture crops was 6.2 per cent higher at 479.02 lh as of December 5, as against 451.12 lh year-ago, the agriculture ministry said in a statement. The sown area under wheat was 241.40 lh as against 217.81 lh year-ago. The normal area (average of last five years) of wheat is 312.35 lh.
The sowing area under Rabi season’s paddy was 11.4 per cent higher at 10.98 lh from 9.86 lh and maize 3.3 per cent more at 11.41 lh from 11.05 lh. Barley acreage was at 5.95 lh from 5.68 lh year-ago whereas its normal area is 5.63 lh.
Jowar acreage reached at 18.08 lh, marginally lower from 18.56 lh, taking the total acreage under nutri/coarse cereals to 36.286 lh, up 0.9 per cent from 35.94 lh.
In pulses, which reached 106.21 lh against 105.78 lh year-ago, the area under chana was 77.84 lh against 75.16 lh, up by 3.6 per cent and masur acreage was 7.3 per cent lower at 12.98 lh from 14 lh.
The oilseeds acreage was 84.14 lh as of December 5, up by 2.9 per cent from 81.75 lh and it included coverage of 79.88 lh under mustard, which was 4.5 per cent higher from 76.43 lh year-ago, the data show.
Last year, the total area under all Rabi crops in the entire season was 663.04 lh and the foodgrains production was recorded 167.22 million tonne (mt) and that of oilseeds was 13.57 mt.
The government has fixed a target of 171.14 million tonne (mt) of foodgrains which include 119 mt of wheat, 15.86 mt of rice, 16.57 mt of pulses, 3.17 mt of nutri cereals, 14.5 mt of maize and 2.05 mt of barley, as well as 15.07 mt of oilseeds (including 13.9 mt of mustard).
Meanwhile, storage in the major 166 reservoirs continued below 90 per cent of the capacity even as the southern region experiencing 47 per cent surplus rainfall since November 27.
Data from the Central Water Commission (CWC) showed that the level in the key reservoirs was 86.41 per cent of 183.565 billion cubic metres (BCM) capacity at 158.624 BCM. Compared with a year ago and the normal storage (last 10 years) it was 7 per cent and 22 per cent higher, respectively.
Published on December 8, 2025
