15 Dec 2025
Maharashtra’s final pulses sowing data for the kharif 2025–26 season reflects a divergent trend across pulse varieties, shaped by erratic monsoon conditions, rising input costs, and uneven market returns. While farmers have largely maintained acreage under tur (pigeon pea) and expanded urad (black gram) cultivation, sowing of moong (green gram) has declined sharply, according to data from the state agriculture department.
Tur, the state’s principal kharif pulse, has been sown on 1,226,440 hectares, representing 96 percent of the five-year average and broadly in line with last year’s coverage. Officials noted that despite price volatility and weather uncertainty, farmers continue to rely on tur as a relatively stable crop, though its acreage has not shown meaningful expansion in recent years.
Moong cultivation, however, has seen a significant contraction. Sowing stood at 211,318 hectares, equivalent to 70 percent of the five-year average and 89 percent of last year’s area, reflecting waning farmer confidence amid inconsistent rainfall and weaker profitability.
In contrast, urad has recorded a modest expansion, covering 378,257 hectares—about 105 percent of the five-year average and 97 percent of last year’s sowing. Agriculture department officials said farmers are increasingly favouring urad due to more favourable market conditions and its ability to perform better under short-duration and uneven rainfall patterns.
Other pulse crops, including horse gram, cowpea, moth bean, and kidney beans, were sown across 68,575 hectares, accounting for 75 percent of the five-year average and **96 percent of last year’s area.
Overall, total pulse acreage in the state reached 1,884,591 hectares, or 93 percent of the five-year average and 98 percent of last year’s coverage. Analysts described the growth as subdued, particularly when compared with cereal crops such as maize, whose acreage has surged to 156 percent of the five-year average and 130 percent year-on-year this season. Experts attribute the slower expansion in pulses to farmer caution amid weather uncertainty and escalating cultivation costs.
Maharashtra, along with Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, remains among India’s top pulse-producing states, collectively accounting for nearly 55 percent of national pulse output. India continues to be the world’s largest producer and cultivator of pulses.
However, structural challenges persist. A NITI Aayog report (2025) highlighted constraints facing the pulse sector, including limited technological adoption, shortages of high-yielding varieties, inadequate seed availability, and heavy dependence on rainfed agriculture. These factors continue to undermine productivity and farm incomes, prompting growers to shift toward alternative and higher-return crops.
“Compared to soybean and other crops, pulses offer limited returns, and most of our produce is absorbed by the domestic market,” said Ramkrishna Bholse, a farmer from Latur. “In recent years, more farmers have been moving towards other cash crops.”