38% of wheat area harvested so far in India, says Agri minister Chouhan

The country has harvested 38 per cent of the total wheat area of an estimated 32 million hectare so far in the ongoing 2025-26 marketing season, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Sunday.

In view of the possibility of good yield of various rabi crops, Chouhan directed the officials to make better procurement arrangements for farmers.

Wheat "harvesting conditions are better" in key growing states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Bihar, the minister said in a statement.

The government has set a wheat procurement target of 31 million tonnes for the 2025-26 marketing season (April-March). 

As per the official data, farmers have completed harvesting in 91 per cent of the total rabi pulse areas, 87 per cent of oilseeds area, 70 per cent of Shree Anna and coarse cereals area and 33 per cent of rice area as on April 4.

About 59 per cent of the total rabi crops area has been harvested as on April 4 across the country.

Besides rabi crops like wheat, the minister also took stock of the progress of sowing of zaid crops, which are grown between rabi and kharif season.

As per the data, total area under zaid crops has reached 60.22 lakh hectare so far this year, up from 52.40 lakh hectare a year ago.

Of this, rice has been sown in 32 lakh hectare and pulses in 11 lakh hectare and oilseeds in 7.35 lakh hectare in the said period, the statement added.