India, in Infographics: Economy
India’s Crop Yields Trail China’s: Rice And Wheat By 40%, Pulses By 50%, Cotton By 81%
Yield Per Hectare Of India’s Main Crops, And Milk Per Cow, As A Share Of China’s And Of The World Average. Hover Or Tap A Bar.
India’s Yield Per Hectare As A Percentage Of Mainland China’s And Of The World Average, 2022 To 2024 Averages. Milk Is Per Milking Cow. The Dashed Line Marks 100%. Hover Or Tap A Bar For The Yields In Tonnes.
Rice Vs China
60%
90% Of World Average
Pulses Vs China
50%
88% Of World Average
Milk Per Cow A Year
2.0 T
China 2.6 T; World 2.7 T
Ahead Of World Average
6 Of 17
Ahead Of China In 3
The Bottom Line
India’s Yields Are About 60% Of China’s In Rice And Wheat And Half In Pulses, Maize And Soybeans. Against The World Average India Is Close In Rice And Wheat And Ahead In 6 Of 17, Including Millets, Fruit And Sugarcane.
What The Data Shows
The Big Crops
Rice And Wheat, India’s Two Largest Crops By Area, Yield About 60% Of China’s Per Hectare. Pulses Yield 50%, Soybeans 55%, Maize 52% And Cotton 19%.
Against The World
India Is Close To The World Average In Rice (90%) And Wheat (97%), And Ahead In Millets (143%), Groundnuts, Fruit, Sugarcane, Potatoes And Bananas. It Trails Most In Soybeans (41%) And Cotton (54%).
Milk
Indian Cows Give 2.0 Tonnes Of Milk A Year Each, Against 2.6 Tonnes In China, 2.7 Tonnes Worldwide And 10.9 Tonnes In The United States. India Is Still The Largest Milk Producer Because It Has By Far The Most Milking Animals.
Read With Care
Irrigation And Climate
Yields Depend On Water, Seed, Fertiliser, Machinery And Weather. Much Of India’s Pulse, Millet And Oilseed Area Is Rain-Fed, While Most Chinese Farmland Is Irrigated.
Matches The Government’s Data
FAO’s Wheat Yields Match The Agriculture Ministry’s Exactly; Its Rice Is Paddy, About 1.5 Times The Ministry’s Milled Figure; Its Pulses Run About 5% Higher.
Years And Coverage
For India, FAO’s 2022 To 2024 Are Crop Years 2021-22 To 2023-24. China Is Mainland China. Chickpeas Are Left Out Because China Grows Very Little.
Sources & Method
Data
FAOSTAT, Production Of Crops And Livestock Products (Released December 2025): Yield Per Harvested Hectare (kg/ha) And Milk Yield Per Milking Animal, Averaged Over 2022 To 2024. Each Yield Equals Production Divided By Area Harvested. Government Of India Yields: RBI Handbook Of Statistics On Indian Economy, Table 21.
Data: FAOSTAT Production · RBI Handbook, Table 21.
