India has achieved a record wheat production of 120.65 million tonnes (MT) during the 2025-26 rabi season, according to the third advance estimate released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. The production has surpassed last year’s output of 117.94 MT by around 2.71 MT despite weather-related challenges in some regions. Wheat was cultivated over 336 lakh hectares across the country, resulting in the highest-ever production.
Scientists at the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR) attributed the achievement largely to the adoption of high-yielding, climate-resilient wheat varieties. While the final production estimate is yet to be released, experts do not expect any major revision in the figures.
“This production is above the fixed target of around 120 MTs, making the country not self-sufficient in foodgrains but will also enable a certain quantity of it for exports. No doubt, there were some climate-related issues in some regions, but the high-yielding climate resilient varieties contributed a lot in achieving this target," said Dr Ratan Tiwari, Director, ICAR-IIWBR.
Data compiled by ‘The Tribune’ shows that Uttar Pradesh remained the country’s largest wheat-producing state, harvesting 35.87 MT from 96.13 lakh hectares, marginally higher than last year’s 35.65 MT.
Madhya Pradesh retained the second position with a production of 26.44 MT from 81.96 lakh hectares, compared to 24.50 MT in the previous year.
Punjab ranked third with 17.07 MT of wheat produced from 34.59 lakh hectares. However, the state recorded a decline from last year’s 17.99 MT, reflecting the impact of adverse weather conditions and other regional factors. Rajasthan registered a production of 12.15 MT from 33.54 lakh hectares, up from 11.27 MT a year ago. Haryana also witnessed an increase, producing 11.64 MT from 24.47 lakh hectares against 11.40 MT last year.
Among other states, Bihar recorded a wheat production of 6.9 MT compared to 7.18 MT in the previous season. Gujarat reported a significant increase to 4.61 MT from 3.86 MT, while Maharashtra’s production rose to 2.38 MT from 2.28 MT. Uttarakhand produced 0.82 MT of wheat, marginally lower than last year’s 0.85 MT. The record harvest is expected to strengthen the country’s foodgrain security and improve prospects for wheat exports in the coming months.
