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India hits record kharif rice production, oilseeds and pulses production fall

NEW DELHI: In its first advance estimate of food production for the kharif season, the Ministry of Agriculture said the country's rice production during the kharif season that ended in October reached a record 124.5 million tonnes, up 1.4 per cent from the previous year. However, the output of pulses, oilseeds and cotton declined. The total foodgrain production for the kharif 2025-26 season is estimated at 173.3 million tonnes, up from 169.5 million tonnes a year earlier, according to the ministry's first advance estimate. Kharif maize production is estimated at 28.303 million tonnes, 3.495 million tonnes more than the previous year's Kharif maize production. Sowing for kharif crops starts around June with the advent of the monsoon, and harvesting begins from October onwards. Rice production stood at 122.8 million tonnes during the kharif 2024-25 season. A record growth is projected in the production of major kharif crops, said Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, in a statement. Chouhan informed that in a few areas of the country, excessive rainfall affected crops, but most areas benefited greatly from good monsoon rains, resulting in overall good crop growth. Moreover, the first advance estimates project total Kharif coarse cereals production at 41.414 million tonnes and total Kharif pulses production at 7.413 million tonnes for 2025-26 against the last year's production of 7.7 million tonnes. Production of tur (arhar) is estimated at 3.597 million tonnes, urad at 1.205 million tonnes, and moong at 1.720 million tonnes. Further, the total Kharif oilseed production in the country is estimated at 27.563 million tonnes for 2025-26, down from 28.02 million tonnes the previous year. This includes peanut (groundnut) production at 11.093 million tonnes, 0.681 million tonnes more than last year, and soybean production at 14.266 million tonnes. Sugarcane production is estimated at 475.614 million tonnes, up 21.003 million tonnes from last year. Cotton production is estimated at 29.215 million bales (each bale weighing 170 kilograms). Production of Patson and Mesta is estimated at 8.345 million bales (each bale weighing kilograms). These estimates are based on yield trends from previous years, other ground-level inputs, regional observations, and predominantly data received from states. Revisions will be made when actual crop cutting experiment yield data becomes available, a statement of the Ministry said.

26 Nov 2025 7:36 pm