We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry. current time
Kharif oilseeds acerage bounces back after a slow start, now running ahead of last year
India’s kharif oilseed planting has turned a corner after weeks of lagging numbers, with sown area now running close to 3 percent higher than last year at 180.20 lakh hectares, as of Friday, according to official data. If rainfall holds up through August, the season could still close in on the usual benchmark of around 200 lakh hectares, sources within the farm ministry indicated.
Groundnut acreage stood at 46.82 lakh hectares, up 8.6 percent on the year, while soyabean edged up marginally by 0.2 percent to 119.92 lakh hectares. Sesamum recorded the sharpest jump among the major oilseed crops, rising 16.9 percent to 9.96 lakh hectares.
The turnaround comes as something of a relief for officials tracking the numbers. This marks the fourth cropping season since the Oilseeds Mission was rolled out ahead of Rabi 2024, and the first two seasons had seen acreage fall short of expectations. It wasn’t until the most recent Rabi season helped along by strong mustard prices in mandis that the trend finally reversed. Going into this kharif season, there were early worries of another shortfall, but a strong spell of July rainfall not only made up the lost ground but pushed acreage past last year’s levels. Officials are now hopeful the momentum carries through to the end of the month.
For Kharif 2026, the government has set its sights on 206.45 lakh hectares under oilseeds and a production target of 289.25 lakh tonnes broken down into 113.50 lakh tonnes of groundnut, 148.50 lakh tonnes of soyabean, 21.50 lakh tonnes of castor and 4.20 lakh tonnes of sesamum. That would mark a step up from Kharif 2025, when actual output came in at 266.68 lakh tonnes from 196.38 lakh hectares of cultivated area.
