The total area under pulse crops during this Rabi season has shown a slight decline compared to the previous year. As of December 20th, the area covered by pulses is 125.64 lakh hectares, which is 1.25 lakh hectares (about 1%) less than the 126.89 lakh hectares sown by the same period last year.

While the area under gram (chickpeas) has increased by approximately 2% — from 84.42 lakh hectares to 86 lakh hectares — the area under other pulses has seen a decrease.

The area under lentils, for example, has dropped by 4% (70,000 hectares), from 17.76 lakh hectares last year to 17.06 lakh hectares this season.

The normal expected area for pulses in the Rabi season is about 140 lakh hectares. Industry analysts suggest that while there might be some improvement in the area of other pulses, including gram, the total sown area is likely to reach around 135 lakh hectares by the end of the Rabi season. This would still be lower than last year's sowing area of 137.59 lakh hectares.

Apart from gram and lentils, other pulses grown during the Rabi season include peas, horse gram, khesari, urad, and moong. While urad and moong are grown in both Kharif and Rabi seasons, peas, horse gram, and khesari do not have a fixed minimum support price (MSP) and are not purchased by government agencies.

Sowing is still ongoing in many areas, and there is particular attention on the sowing of gram due to its high price this season.