Significant Decline in Tur Sowing Area Across Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh

23-Jul-2026 08:38 PM

New Delhi. The cultivation area for *Arhar* (Tur)—the most prominent pulse crop of the Kharif season—is lagging significantly behind last year's figures, primarily due to reduced sowing in the top three producing states: Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. Although the acreage for Tur has increased in states like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, this rise is insufficient to offset the losses elsewhere. Even if the sown area improves somewhat in Gujarat and Maharashtra, it appears unlikely that the total cultivation area for Tur will reach last year's levels.

Compared to the previous year, the cultivation area for Tur had already declined by 18 percent by July 17 during the current Kharif season. According to data from the Union Ministry of Agriculture, the national cultivation area for Tur dropped from 30.17 lakh hectares to 24.80 lakh hectares during the period under review. The central government had set a target to sow Tur across more than 50 lakh hectares to achieve a total production of 40 lakh tonnes; however, this target now seems increasingly out of reach.

Available data indicates that by July 17, compared to the previous year, the Tur cultivation area fell by 10 percent in Maharashtra (from 10.71 lakh hectares to 9.60 lakh hectares), plummeted by 42 percent in Karnataka (from 11.25 lakh hectares to 6.56 lakh hectares), and decreased by 37 percent in Madhya Pradesh (from 1.93 lakh hectares to 1.34 lakh hectares).

Conversely, the acreage surged by 30 percent in Uttar Pradesh (from 1.94 lakh hectares to 2.52 lakh hectares), rose by 16 percent in Telangana (from 1.32 lakh hectares to 1.53 lakh hectares), and more than doubled in Andhra Pradesh (rising from 49,000 hectares to 1.08 lakh hectares).