India's total kharif sowing area stood at 967.92 lakh hectares (lh) as of August 7, down 1.8 per cent from 985.89 lh a year earlier, the Agriculture Ministry said in its weekly update. Current coverage is 87.6 per cent of the season's normal area of 1104.46 lh, and the overall deficit has narrowed to less than 2 per cent from nearly 3 per cent until July 31.
Weekly sowing catch-up
Farmers planted kharif crops in nearly 74 lh during August 1-7, against 65.17 lh in the same week last year, the Ministry reported. The pick-up helped narrow the year-on-year deficit and, with monsoon rainfall at 88 per cent of normal since June 1, the Agriculture Ministry flagged potential for further increase in the sowing area before the planting window closes around the end of this month.
Sugarcane area revised lower
The Ministry revised the area under sugarcane after a gap of several weeks, showing coverage at 58.31 lh, down from 58.62 lh in the year-ago period. Until July 31, the government was showing 86,000 hectares higher acreage under cane this year. State-wise data show that except Uttar Pradesh, most key growing states are slightly below year-ago levels.
| State | Kharif 2026 area (lh) | Year-ago area (lh) |
|---|---|---|
| Uttar Pradesh | 28.97 | 28.61 |
| Maharashtra | 11.82 | 11.96 |
| Karnataka | 7.33 | 7.36 |
| Gujarat | 1.90 | 2.02 |
| Bihar | 1.89 | 1.96 |
| Tamil Nadu | 1.34 | 1.38 |
| Punjab | 0.81 | 0.95 |
Paddy, pulses and oilseeds: mixed trends
- Paddy (rice) is down 4.2 per cent at 344.78 lh against 360.67 lh year-ago. The deficit was 2.2 per cent until July 31, and the widening gap signals slow progress in transplanting during the past week. The government has set a production target of 123.15 million tonnes (mt) for rice in Kharif 2026, and The Hindu BusinessLine reported there may not be any significant shortfall due to higher area coverage in major growing states.
- Pulses coverage reached 103.78 lh against 105.73 lh; the deficit narrowed to 1.8 per cent from 6.3 per cent in the previous week. Arhar (pigeon pea) stood at 37.53 lh, down 6.5 per cent from 40.14 lh; moong (green gram) at 31.37 lh from 33.21 lh; urad (black gram) rose to 22.86 lh from 20.29 lh.
- Oilseeds acreage at 180.20 lh against 175.01 lh exceeded the year-ago level, with higher area under soybean, groundnut and sesame. Soyabean was a tad higher at 119.92 lh from 119.66 lh, and groundnut rose to 46.82 lh from 43.11 lh. The government's targets for the season are 28.92 mt of oilseeds, including 14.85 mt soyabean and 11.35 mt groundnut.
Coarse cereals, cotton and fibre crops
Coverage of nutri/coarse cereals is 7.5 per cent lower at 157.77 lh against 170.6 lh. Jowar area reached 12.16 lh against 12.61 lh year-ago, while bajra dipped to 57.44 lh from 61.64 lh, ragi to 1.87 lh from 2.8 lh and maize to 83.56 lh from 90.15 lh. Cotton acreage is a notch lower at 106.01 lh from 106.42 lh, while jute and mesta coverage was higher at 6.34 lh from 6.22 lh, Ministry data show.
Monsoon performance and production targets
India Meteorological Department (IMD) data cited in the article show overall monsoon rainfall at 88 per cent of normal — a 12 per cent deficit — during June 1-August 10. June rainfall was 35 per cent deficient (as per revised data) and July was 1 per cent surplus; rainfall during August 1-10 was 9 per cent below normal. Of 741 districts, 345 reported rainfall deficit of 20 per cent or higher. The government has fixed a kharif production target of 176.16 mt of foodgrains, including 8.4 mt pulses, 31.04 mt maize and 13.56 mt nutri cereals for Kharif 2026.
For commodity traders and agribusiness analysts monitoring Indian supply, the Ministry's weekly series shows the overall kharif deficit has narrowed even as paddy, coarse cereals and cotton remain below year-ago coverage. With the planting window open until around the end of August and monsoon rainfall holding at 88 per cent of normal, The Hindu BusinessLine noted potential for further area gains. The revised lower sugarcane acreage — particularly in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Punjab — will be a key input for sugar processors assessing the season's cane supply.
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