Excessive rains have impacted standing crops, threatening Kharif production.
Excessive rains in the western and eastern parts of the country since mid-August have significantly damaged standing crops in many areas, and the record Kharif crop estimates for 2025-26 may need to be significantly cut. Due to cracks in fields in many areas, harvesting of Kharif crops has slowed, and Rabi sowing may be delayed.
Although no accurate estimates of crop losses have yet been made, the damage has been most severe in Maharashtra, where nearly half of the cropped area has been affected by floods. Sources in the farming and trading communities in various regions indicate that production of paddy, soybean, pigeon pea, black gram, sugarcane, millet, and cotton may be affected.
Furthermore, there are concerns of more rain in the coming days, with the Meteorological Department predicting heavy rains in Central Maharashtra, Marathwada, Telangana, and coastal Andhra Pradesh until September 30. A new low-pressure area is expected to form over the northern and adjoining central Bay of Bengal on Thursday.
# Maharashtra and other states most affected
Excessive rainfall over the past week in Maharashtra's Marathwada and Vidarbha regions has affected crops on more than 7 million hectares of the state's total 14.4 million hectares of cultivated area. State Agriculture Minister Dattatreya Bharane said on Wednesday that crops in about 30 of the 36 districts affected by this month's rains have been affected, with significant damage. He said, "Crop damage surveys are underway on a war footing with the assistance of the revenue and agriculture departments."
This comes as excessive rainfall severely impacted crops in Punjab and Rajasthan. Some crops in Karnataka have also been affected. If the rains continue, further problems will arise for crops.
