New Delhi: A record growth in the production of major Kharif crops is expected, with total food grain output estimated to increase by 3.87 million tonnes to 173.33 million tonnes, according to the first advance estimates released by Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday. A good production of Kharif rice and maize is anticipated.
Chouhan said that in some areas of the country, excessive rainfall affected crops, but most regions benefited greatly from good monsoon rains, resulting in overall good crop growth.
According to the first advance estimates for 2025-26, Kharif rice production is estimated at 124.504 million tonnes, which is 1.732 million tonnes more than the last year. Maize production is estimated at 28.303 million tonnes, 3.495 million tonnes more than previous year’s production.
The first advance estimates have project total coarse cereals production at 41.414 million tonnes and total pulses production at 7.413 million tonnes for 2025-26. Within this, production of tur (arhar) is estimated at 3.597 million tonnes, urad at 1.205 million tonnes, and moong at 1.720 million tonnes.
Total oilseed production is estimated at 27.563 million tonnes for 2025-26. This includes peanut (groundnut) production at 11.093 million tonnes, which is 0.681 million tonnes more than last year, and soybean production estimated at 14.266 million tonnes. Sugarcane production is estimated at 475.614 million tonnes, showing an increase of 21.003 million tonnes compared to last year. Cotton production is estimated at 29.215 million bales (each bale weighing 170 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.