• The current sown area has also surpassed the seasonal average of 63.78 Mn ha.

• What? Release of data related to progress of area coverage under Rabi crops (as of January 09, 2026)
• Released by: MoAFW
• Total Rabi Area: 64.42 million hectares (Mn ha)
• Total Increase in Area: 1.76 Mn ha (+2.8%)
• Season’s Average Coverage: 63.78 Mn ha
• Area covered by Rabi crops: Wheat (33.42 Mn ha); Pulses (13.64 Mn ha); oilseeds (9.68 Mn ha); and Coarse cereals (5.52 Mn ha)

Key Highlights of Rabi Season:
Key Contributors: As per the MoAFW, the expansion in sown area was mainly attributed to higher acreage under wheat, rice, pulses and oilseeds.
Wheat & Rice Coverage: The data revealed that the total area sown under Wheat increased by 6.13 lakh hectares (lh) to 33.42 Mn ha in 2025-26 rabi season.

• The total area under Rice stood at 2.17 Mn ha in 2025-26 rabi season.

Pulses Coverage: Also, the total area under Pulses (such as gram, masur)has increased by  3.74 lh, from 13.2 Mn ha(2024-25) to 13.64 Mn ha(2025-26).

• This increase was mainly driven by chana (gram) as total area under it touched 9.58 Mn ha (during 2025-26 season )over 9.12 Mn ha  (2024-25).

Oilseeds Coverage: The total area under Oilseeds (such as rapeseed and mustard) has increased to 9.68 Mn ha, registering an increase of 3.53 lh compared to the last year (9.33 Mn ha).
Coarse Cereals: The total area covered under Coarse cereals (such as jowar, bajra, and ragi) has expanded to 5.52 Mn ha during 2025-26 season compared to 5.31 Mn ha in the same period of the last year.
About Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW):
Union Minister- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Constituency- Madhya Pradesh, MP)
Minister of State (MoS) – Ram Nath Thakur (Rajya Sabha- Bihar); Bhagirath Choudhary (Constituency- Ajmer, Rajasthan)