Rabi acreage tops normal levels for most crops till January 9, shows data

Cold wave grips North India; temperature dips to 2.7 degrees in Gurugram

Sowing of rabi crops crossed their normal levels during the week ended January 9, with acreage under wheat, pulses and gram even topping the area covered in the full 2024-25 rabi season. Data showed that till January 9, 2026, around 64.42 million hectares of land was sown under rabi crops, which is 2.81 per cent more than the area covered during the corresponding period last year and 101 per cent of the normal acreage. Normal acreage is the area covered in the previous five years.

 

Traders said that with acreage of almost all major rabi crops exceeding last year’s levels, production is expected to be bumper if the weather remains benign in the coming few weeks.

   

Meanwhile, on the weather front, severe cold wave conditions have gripped several parts of North India, with temperatures plummeting to below-normal levels in major cities and towns. According to the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) latest forecast, cold wave to severe cold wave conditions are very likely to continue over Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand over the next two to three days and abate thereafter. This would be accompanied by dense fog conditions during morning hours over northwest India and Bihar over the next few days.

 

Cold wave conditions, along with moderate frost, are generally considered good for rabi crops at this stage of growth. IMD data showed that on January 12, 2026, minimum temperatures dipped to an average of 3–3.5 degrees Celsius across most parts of the national capital, Delhi, with temperatures dropping to 2.7 degrees Celsius in neighbouring Gurugram.