The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare released the progress of area coverage under Kharif crops as on 10th July 2026. The total area sown stands at 531.25 lakh hectares, which is 1.01 lakh hectares lower than the 532.69 lakh hectares covered during the same period in 2025. Compared to the normal area (average of 2021-22 to 2024-25) of 549.36 lakh hectares, the current sowing shows a deficit of 18.11 lakh hectares.
Rice cultivation shows a positive trend with 114.69 lakh hectares sown, exceeding the normal area of 97.74 lakh hectares by 16.95 lakh hectares, though it remains 10.84 lakh hectares below last year's coverage of 125.53 lakh hectares. Pulses have seen significant reduction with total area at 56.63 lakh hectares, down 17.22 lakh hectares from last year's 73.85 lakh hectares and 5.57 lakh hectares below the normal area of 62.20 lakh hectares. Within pulses, Arhar shows the largest decline at 8.49 lakh hectares less than 2025, while Moong bean shows a positive deviation of 3.17 lakh hectares over normal area.
Coarse cereals (Shri Anna cum coarse cereals) stand at 98.69 lakh hectares, down 28.61 lakh hectares from last year's 127.30 lakh hectares and 2.70 lakh hectares below the normal area of 101.38 lakh hectares. Bajra shows the largest decline among coarse cereals with 12.22 lakh hectares less than 2025. Oilseeds cultivation has decreased substantially to 117.83 lakh hectares, down 31.34 lakh hectares from last year's 149.18 lakh hectares and 12.98 lakh hectares below the normal area of 130.81 lakh hectares. Groundnut and Soybean show declines of 12.05 lakh hectares and 17.21 lakh hectares respectively compared to 2025.
Sugarcane shows a marginal increase with 57.58 lakh hectares sown, up 0.86 lakh hectares from last year's 56.72 lakh hectares and 2.36 lakh hectares above the normal area of 55.22 lakh hectares. Jute & Mesta also shows a slight increase of 0.12 lakh hectares over 2025. Cotton cultivation has decreased significantly to 79.54 lakh hectares, down 14.41 lakh hectares from last year's 93.95 lakh hectares and 16.28 lakh hectares below the normal area of 95.83 lakh hectares.