New Delhi, Nov 4: India's rabi (winter) sowing is running 46 per cent behind last year's pace, with crops sown on 37.56 lakh hectares as of October 30, 2026, against 69.02 lakh hectares at the same point last year, according to a weekly update on rabi crop sowing released by the Union Agriculture Ministry and reported by Hindu BusinessLine on November 2. The sown area is only 5.8 per cent of the season's normal acreage of 64.52 million hectares (645.2 lakh hectares), Informist reported from the same ministry data.

Source: Hindu BusinessLine

The lag is sharpest in the season's main crop. Wheat had been sown on just 19,000 hectares, compared with 3.34 lakh hectares a year ago, a fall of 94 per cent, Informist reported. Total oilseed acreage fell about 46 per cent to 20.97 lakh hectares from 38.62 lakh hectares, with rapeseed and mustard — the main rabi oilseed — down to 20.50 lakh hectares from 38.07 lakh hectares. Pulses covered 9.45 lakh hectares, down 52 per cent from 19.56 lakh hectares. Hindu BusinessLine noted that the main wheat sowing window only begins in the first week of November and runs for about two months, varying from state to state, so the wheat figure in particular reflects an early-season snapshot rather than a final outcome.

Source: Informist

Officials said that while there was earlier insufficient moisture in the soil, high daytime temperatures were also not conducive for sowing, Hindu BusinessLine reported. As the temperature has started cooling, the sowing is expected to pick up. The data for the week ending October 30 showed sowing of 19.54 lakh hectares against 40.76 lakh hectares in the year-ago week, down 52 per cent on that weekly comparison.

Source: Hindu BusinessLine

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan reviewed the progress of rabi sowing and kharif harvesting at an internal meeting with senior officials on Monday, and was briefed on challenges arising from drought, cyclones and erratic rainfall in various parts of the country, Hindu BusinessLine reported. Chouhan asked officials to ensure that rabi sowing is accelerated immediately after the kharif harvest, making optimal use of the residual moisture in fields, and directed them to encourage farmers in areas with limited irrigation facilities to grow less water-intensive and lower-cost crops such as chickpea (gram), mustard, lentil and coarse cereals, an official statement said. Rural Voice, reporting the same ministry data via the UPAg portal, put mustard sowing in Rajasthan — the leading mustard-producing state — down about 60 per cent, and said recent rains could help sowing gain momentum.

Source: Rural Voice

What happens next: sowing progress in November and December will decide whether the early lag narrows. The ministry's next weekly updates will show whether cooler temperatures and residual soil moisture after the kharif harvest pull planting back toward last year's pace; if the delays persist into the main wheat window, analysts have said pressure on winter crop output and prices could follow. Sources: Hindu BusinessLine (November 2, 2026) and Informist (October 30, 2026), both reporting the Union Agriculture Ministry's weekly rabi sowing update, and Rural Voice (November 3, 2026).