Sugarcane area under kharif 2026 dips to 58.31 lakh hectares
India’s sugarcane acreage stood at 58.31 lakh hectares as of August 14, 2026, marginally below last year’s 58.62 lakh hectares. Lower coverage in Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh offset gains in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, while total kharif acreage declined 20.95 lakh hectares, led by reduced rice and coarse cereal sowing.
Sugarcane area coverage under the ongoing kharif season stood at 58.31 lakh hectares as on August 14, 2026, marginally lower than the 58.62 lakh hectares sown during the corresponding period of last year, according to data released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
The area under sugarcane cultivation declined by 0.31 lakh hectares compared with the same period in 2025, as per the release issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB). The normal sugarcane area for the 2020-21 to 2024-25 period stood at 54.20 lakh hectares, while the final area coverage for 2025 was recorded at 58.84 lakh hectares.
The decline in sugarcane acreage was mainly attributed to lower coverage in Uttarakhand, where the area fell by 0.20 lakh hectares, followed by Maharashtra and Punjab, each down 0.14 lakh hectares, and Madhya Pradesh, which recorded a decrease of 0.12 lakh hectares, the release stated. Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, however, registered higher sugarcane acreage, up by 0.36 lakh hectares and 0.11 lakh hectares, respectively, over the same period.
The total area sown under all kharif crops across the country stood at 1,016.57 lakh hectares as on August 14, 2026, a decrease of 20.95 lakh hectares from 1,037.52 lakh hectares recorded during the corresponding period of 2025, the data showed. Rice recorded the sharpest decline among major crops, with coverage falling by 14.37 lakh hectares to 379.07 lakh hectares, followed by coarse cereals, which were down 4.17 lakh hectares at 172.96 lakh hectares.
Pulses and oilseeds also registered marginal declines of 0.35 lakh hectares and 0.89 lakh hectares, respectively, while cotton acreage was lower by 0.96 lakh hectares compared with the previous year, according to the release. Jute and mesta was the only category among the tracked crops to record an increase in coverage, up by 0.11 lakh hectares over the corresponding period of 2025, reflecting a largely mixed kharif sowing trend for the season.
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Source : ChiniMandi
