India’s urad and mung in focus/
Traders see crops falling short of targets


Luke Wilkinson

Head Writer

At a glance


  • India’s 2026-27 kharif urad crop is forecast at 1.0-1.4 MMT, below the government’s 1.5 MMT target.
  • Mung production estimates range from 920 KMT to 1.8 MMT, against the official target of 2 MMT.
  • Myanmar and Brazil remain key suppliers of black matpe to India, while mung exporters look to China and Southeast Asia amid India’s import restrictions.

India’s urad consumption stands at around 2.7 MMT a year, leaving imports to bridge the gap between domestic production and demand. 

A weak monsoon and a split sowing picture

In 2025-26, India harvested a record 4.49 MMT of mung beans across its three growing seasons, according to the government's latest estimates, up from 4.24 MMT the year before. Only around 1.98 MMT of that came from the kharif crop, with most of the rest grown in the summer season. Black matpe (urad) went the other way. Total urad output slipped to about 1.71 MMT, and the kharif crop, which supplies most of India's urad, came in at 1.21 MMT, the third year in a row it has fallen. 

This year's kharif cycle took place over the fourth-weakest monsoon since 2001, which ended 12.6% below the long-period average, according to the India Meteorological Department. Even so, urad planting rose. By 25 September, farmers had sown 2.61 million hectares (Mha), up from 2.32 Mha a year earlier, though still short of the 2.96 Mha normal, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Mung area eased to 3.35 Mha from 3.47 Mha. The government is targeting 1.5 MMT of kharif urad and 2 MMT of kharif mung; its first production estimates for the season are expected in late November.

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Indian government targets for black matpe and mung compared with traders' predictions.

Indian black matpe imports 2017-2024. Source: Pulse Atlas.

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