Ministry of Agriculture Kharif Crop Sowing Progress Report 2026
The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has released the progress of area coverage under Kharif crops as of June 12, 2026, showing mixed trends across different crop categories. The total area sown stands at 84.60 lakh hectares, which represents a decrease of 3.44 lakh hectares compared to the same period in 2025 when 88.04 lakh hectares had been sown.
Rice cultivation shows positive momentum with 4.98 lakh hectares sown, significantly higher than the 3.88 lakh hectares recorded in 2025, representing an increase of 1.09 lakh hectares. This exceeds the normal area of 412.00 lakh hectares and the final coverage of 446.70 lakh hectares from the previous year.
The pulses category overall shows a decline, with total area sown at 1.55 lakh hectares compared to 2.73 lakh hectares in 2025, a decrease of 1.18 lakh hectares. Within pulses, arhar (pigeon pea) shows 0.09 lakh hectares sown (down 0.12 lakh hectares from 2025), urdbean at 0.27 lakh hectares (down 0.07 lakh hectares), and moongbean at 0.69 lakh hectares (showing the largest decline of 0.86 lakh hectares from 1.54 lakh hectares in 2025). Kulthi shows a marginal increase of 0.02 lakh hectares to 0.08 lakh hectares, while other pulses category stands at 0.41 lakh hectares (down 0.16 lakh hectares).
Coarse cereals show overall improvement with 4.77 lakh hectares sown, an increase of 0.45 lakh hectares from 4.32 lakh hectares in 2025. Bajra shows significant growth with 1.15 lakh hectares sown compared to just 0.24 lakh hectares in 2025, an increase of 0.91 lakh hectares. Jowar stands at 0.73 lakh hectares (down 0.07 lakh hectares), ragi at 0.31 lakh hectares (slight increase of 0.01 lakh hectares), small millets at 0.31 lakh hectares (down 0.08 lakh hectares), and maize at 2.28 lakh hectares (down 0.32 lakh hectares).
Oilseeds show minimal change with 3.51 lakh hectares sown, nearly identical to the 3.54 lakh hectares in 2025 (decrease of 0.02 lakh hectares). Groundnut shows improvement at 2.57 lakh hectares (up 0.30 lakh hectares), while soybean stands at 0.70 lakh hectares (down 0.20 lakh hectares), sunflower at 0.16 lakh hectares (down 0.06 lakh hectares), and sesamum at 0.05 lakh hectares (down 0.06 lakh hectares).
Sugarcane shows minimal change with 54.08 lakh hectares sown compared to 54.29 lakh hectares in 2025, a decrease of 0.21 lakh hectares. Jute & Mesta shows slight improvement at 6.18 lakh hectares (up 0.10 lakh hectares from 6.09 lakh hectares in 2025).
Cotton shows the most significant decline among major crops, with only 9.53 lakh hectares sown compared to 13.19 lakh hectares in 2025, representing a substantial decrease of 3.66 lakh hectares. The data provides normal area benchmarks (2020-21 to 2024-25 average) and final area coverage from 2025 for comparison across all crop categories.