India’s urad acreage rises 8% as northern sowing accelerates
Urad acreage reached 18.67 lakh hectares by July 24, supported by recent rains and higher prices. Strong gains in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are expected to offset sharp declines in Maharashtra and Karnataka, with final output dependent on September–October rains.
What happened
Urad (black matpe) · India’s urad acreage rose 8% year-on-year to 18.67 lakh hectares as rains and high prices lifted sowing in northern states. Higher output
Key facts
- Urad acreage reached 18.67 lakh hectares as of July 24, up 8% from 17.27 lakh hectares a year earlier
- Acreage rose from 13.51 lakh hectares a week earlier, an increase of over 5 lakh hectares
- Madhya Pradesh acreage: 6.17 lakh hectares, up 13% from 5.48 lakh hectares
- Uttar Pradesh acreage: 4.99 lakh hectares, up 75% from 2.84 lakh hectares
- Rajasthan acreage: 3.25 lakh hectares, up over 16% from 2.79 lakh hectares
- Gujarat acreage: 0.49 lakh hectares, up around 25% from 0.39 lakh hectares
- Maharashtra acreage: 1.6 lakh hectares, down 53% from 3.43 lakh hectares
- Karnataka acreage: 0.71 lakh hectares, down around 24% from 0.94 lakh hectares
- Urad is a 60-80 day crop
Why this matters
The acreage shift toward northern states strengthens the case for building sourcing, storage or processing partnerships in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
What to watch
- August-October rainfall distribution in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, especially during flowering and pod-setting.
- Official crop-condition updates and revised acreage estimates for Maharashtra and Karnataka.
- September-November mandi arrivals, benchmark urad prices and miller stock levels.
- Government procurement, buffer-stock releases, import-policy changes and any pulses stockholding measures.
- Retail price movement in urad dal versus competing pulses and festive-season demand intensity.
- Increase forward monitoring of urad procurement costs and regional crop-condition data rather than assuming acreage gains will lower prices.
- Build flexible post-harvest buying plans for black gram, urad dal, ready-to-cook mixes, papad and other pulse-linked private-label products.
- Avoid aggressive pre-harvest price cuts; use targeted promotions only if mandi arrivals and mill quotations decline materially.
- Review substitution opportunities across moong, chana, masoor and mixed-dal assortments if urad remains expensive.
- For foodservice and packaged-food operators, lock partial supply coverage while retaining capacity to benefit from post-harvest price declines.