Even though India has the maximum cultivated area among the BRICS countries, agricultural productivity in India still remains much below China who is the biggest cereal-producing nation in the group. Even though the yields of the main crops have improved, as per the data in the BRICS Joint Statistical Presentation published on 18th August, there exists a significant disparity in the production of the main crops.
The current estimates by India’s Agriculture Ministry have the rice yield at 2,915 kg per hectare, while wheat is estimated at 3,591 kg per hectare and maize at 3,824 kg per hectare for 2025-26. However, China achieved significantly higher yields in 2025: 7,205 kg per ha for rice, 5,940 kg per ha for wheat and 6,700 kg per ha for maize.
The production of cereals in China of 660.2 million tonnes was also higher than that in India of 324.8 million tonnes in 2025. In absolute terms India’s cereal production in 2025 was down by 2.2% from 332.05MT in 2024 to be 324.79MT. The production of cereals grew in contrast, with China rising by 1.2% to 660.21 million tonnes.
There is a lot of improvement in crop yields in India, though. The highest growth in productivity was observed in maize, which grew by approximately 27% from 3,006 kg to 3,824 kg per hectare between 2019-20 and 2025-26.
In 2025, Brazil also had a higher yield than India for rice, and a higher yield than both Brazil and Russia for maize, while India had a higher wheat yield than Brazil and Russia.
The publication estimates that India has 154 million hectares of land under cultivation, more than China (129 million hectares), Russia (126 million hectares) and Brazil (97 million hectares). The figures reflect the sheer size of the agricultural base in India as well as the need to increase productivity per hectare.