Rabi sowing gains pace but southern states lag

As festive season in India draws to a close, rabi sowing has picked up pace in almost all states, with farmers choosing chana, wheat, masur and mustard in most areas as prices of these commodities have stayed firm in the past few months.

However, extended rainfall in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu has delayed sowing activities in these southern states.

"The heavy rainfall can cause a delay in sowing, especially of chana, in southern states, which can lead farmers to opt for other crops like urad, the prices of which are very lucrative," said G Reddy, a farmer in Andhra Pradesh.


Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are significant producers of urad.

India faced shortage of tur, urad and chana last year due to lower production which pushed prices of all key pulses upwards, thereby pushing up overall food inflation.

This forced the government to remove all restrictions on imports and impose stock limits. The sowing of urad in the kharif season has also not been up to the mark. A good rabi produce can help farmers earn better prices, said Reddy.

Wheat cultivation is going on in full swing in western states. Wheat is a key rabi crop and one of the main foodgrains consumed in the country.

Around 46,000 hectares has been brought under wheat cultivation in Rajasthan, a significant increase from the 6,000 hectares recorded a year ago, according to data from the state government.

For this season, the Rajasthan government has set a target of 3.2 million hectares for wheat cultivation in the state. Wheat sowing starts from western states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, followed by Haryana and Punjab.

The government has increased the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat by ₹150 per quintal to ₹2,425 for the 2025-26 marketing season from the previous MSP of ₹2,275 per quintal. In 2023-24, area under wheat stood at 31.83 million hectares, while the production is estimated at 113.92 million tonnes. Uttar Pradesh is the top wheat producing state in the country, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Vegetables, especially potatoes, are expected to be a preferred crop for this rabi season in major growing states as lower production last year pushed prices of the common man's vegetable upwards.