RICE PRODUCTION IN INDIA

Piyush goyal
Nov 16, 2022
3 min read

Roughly one-half of the world population, including virtually all of East and Southeast Asia, is wholly dependent upon rice as a staple food; 95 percent of the world’s rice crop is eaten by humans. Rice is cooked by boiling, or it can be ground into a flour. It is eaten alone and in a great variety of soups, side dishes, and main dishes in Asian, Middle Eastern, and many other cuisines.

More than 90 percent of the world’s rice is grown in Asia, principally in China, India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, with smaller amounts grown in Japan, Pakistan, and various Southeast Asian nations. Rice is also cultivated in parts of Europe, in North and South America, and in Australia.

Rice is the most important food crop of India covering about one-fourth of the total cropped area and providing food to about half of the Indian population.

Rice is the staple food crop of the North East Hill (NEH) Region inhabited by different tribes/ethnic groups. The varying agro-ecosystem and different tribe grow different land races of their preference based on quality and other religious purpose. The North-Eastern region of India has got a strategic importance and is surrounded by Bhutan and China in the north, Myanmar in the east while Bangladesh is in the south eastern side. More than 200 ethnic groups inhabit this region. This region is characterized by high rainfall, humidity, with varied topography and altitude making it a hub rich in floristic and crop diversities.

Rice is grown in almost all the states in the country however the major 5 states in rice production are West Bengal, UP, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. The west Bengal and Uttar Pradesh produces 30% of total quantity of rice produced in the country.

The state with Largest area under rice cultivation are Uttar Pradesh (5737.0 thousand hectares), West Bengal (5491.0 thousand ha), Odisha (3940.7 thousand ha), Chhattisgarh (3666.0 thousand ha) and Punjab ( 2920.0 thousand ha)

The Indian states with the highest areas of Basmati rice under production are Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Western Uttar Pradesh.

Let’s have a look at the States by Area under Rice Cultivation and Rice Production

Source: https://www.nfsm.gov.in/ and RBI Statistic

Geographical conditions to grow Rice

Source: apnikheti.com

Temperature:

Rice is a tropical crop and grown where the average temperature during the growing season is between 20°C and 27°C. Abundant sunshine is essential during its four months of growth. The minimum temperature should not go below 15°C as germination cannot take place below that temperature.

Rainfall:

Paddy requires more water than any other crop. As a result, paddy cultivation is done only in those areas where minimum rainfall is 115 cm. Although the regions are having average annual rainfall between 175—300 cm are the most suitable.

Paddy also needs flooded conditions with the depth of water varying over 25 mm at the time of transplanting to as much as 150 mm for 10 weeks of the growing period.

Soils:

Paddy is grown in wide range of soil, from the podzolic alluvium of China to the impermeable heavy clay of central Thailand. Fertile riverine alluvial soil is best for rice cultivation. Clayey loam soil in monsoon land is considered to be the best for rice cultivation as water retention capacity of this soil is very high. Rice is also grown in saline areas of deltic region. Rice cultivation needs high fertilizer application.

Fertilizers:

Paddy requires three essential plant nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Most paddy lands have a moderate quantity of such nutrients, but if they are deficient, organic manure or artificial fertilizers have to be used.

Labour:

Paddy cultivation is extremely labour-intensive, therefore, requires more labour in comparison to other cereal crops. Labour is necessary for: preparing the field, weeding, sowing, transplanting, manuring, harvesting, threshing, winnowing and milling. For rice cultivation large number of cheap labour is required.