Rice

Rice is grown in many regions across India. For about 65% of the people living in India, rice is a staple food for them. Rice is essential to life in India. It is a part of nearly every meal, and it is grown on a majority of the rural farms.

The god Shiva called rice Vrihi, in Sanskrit. India is one of the original centres of rice cultivation.

The rice harvesting area in India is the world's largest. Indian rice cultivation is found in all states, but West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Bihar are the major producing states. The early Kharif growing season lasts from March-May to June-October; the mid-Kharif season from June-October to November-February, and the Rabi season from November-February to March-June.

About 600 improved varieties of indica rice have been released for cultivation since 1965, but Basmati rice is still planted over large areas. Rice-based production systems provide the main income and employment for more than 50 million households.

Rice is the staple food for 65% of the total population in India. The Indian population was about 1 billion people in 2000 and is still growing at a high rate (1.7% per year). Although the country exports several varieties of rice, many scientists have expressed concern that current Indian rice production techniques cannot sustain the growing domestic population. India has a large number of rice dishes and many of them are very simple to prepare. Indian pilaf rice is very flavourful and fluffy when cooked with Basmati rice.

India is the world's second largest producer of white rice, accounting for 80% of all world rice production. Rice is India's preeminent crop, and is the staple food of the people of the eastern and southern parts of the country. Production increased from 53.6 million tons in FY 1980 to 74.6 million tons in FY 1990, a 39 percent increase over the decade. By FY 1992, rice production had reached 111 million tons, second in the world only to China with its 182 million tons. Since 1950 the increase has been more than 350 percent. Most of this increase was the result of an increase in yields; the number of hectares increased only 40 percent during this period. Yields increased from 1,336 kilograms per hectare in FY 1980 to 1,751 kilograms per hectare in FY 1990. The per-hectare yield increased more than 262 percent between 1950 and 1992. Andhra Pradesh is the top most rice-producing state in the country.

Some important facts about rice in Indian Scenario are as:

Agriculture is the main source of income for families in India. Farms cover over half the land and almost three-quarters of that land is used to grow the two major grains: rice and wheat.

India is the second leading producer of rice in the entire world, preceded only by China.

India's annual rice production is around 85-90 million tons. Annual consumption, is around 85 million tons.

In India, Rice is cultivated in both seasons - Winter and Summer.

West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, Karnataka and Haryana are the major producing states. More than 50% of total production comes from the first four states.

Food Corporation of India purchases around 20 to 25% of the total rice production in the country both under levy from the rice mills and directly in the form of paddy from the farmers at Minimum Support Prices announced by the Govt.

More than 4000 varieties of rice are grown in India.

India is the world's largest exporter of Basmati rice to Saudi Arabia and other Middle East Countries, Europe, and the United States.

India has the potential to export one million tons of Basmati rice.

Major destinations for Indian non-basmati, white/parboiled rice are Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, Nigeria, South Africa, Ivory Coast, and other African countries.

India's population is expected to be 1.2 billion by 2012. The demand for rice in India is projected at 128 million tonnes for the year 2012 and will require a production level of 3,000 kg/ha significantly greater than the present average yield of 1,930 kg/ha.

Major constraints to rice production that India faces are land, water, labour and other inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides and insecticides, and even high quality germplasm, without affecting the already degraded and stressed agricultural environment. The problems/constraints in rice production vary from state to state and area to area.

Some of the major problems in rice cultivation

About 78% of the farmers are small and marginal in the country and they are poor in resource.

The problems of flash floods, water logging/ submergence due to poor drainage are very common in East India.

Continuous use of traditional varieties due to the non-availability of seeds and farmers lack of awareness about high yielding varieties.

Low soil fertility due to soil erosion resulting in loss of plant nutrients and moisture.

Low and imbalanced use of fertilizers, low use efficiency of applied fertilizers particularly in the North-Eastern and Eastern States.

The Eastern region experiences high rainfall and severe flood almost every year which lead to heavy loss.

Heavy infestation of weeds and insects/pests.

Delay in monsoon onset often results in delayed and prolong transplanting and sub-optimum plant population (Mostly in rainfed lowlands).

In the years of scanty or adverse distribution of rainfall, the crop fails owing to drought etc.

Industry vs farmers | How it hurts India

on LIVE MINT.com
Posted: Wed, Sep 15 2010. 5:45 PM IST
Reuters


New Delhi: As India rapidly industrializes, the government and private firms are seeking large tracts of farm land to build factories, power plants and highways, sparking off violent protests by farmers and others.
Why is land a big issue?
For many Indians, land is the only asset or social security that they possess and is a mark of social standing. Nearly 60% of India’s 1.2 billion citizens depend on farming for a living and each hectare of farmland supports five people.
Most projects require huge amounts of land. A proposed steel mill by South Korea’s Posco in Orissa will be built on 1,600 hectares. A six-lane highway between the Taj Mahal city of Agra and New Delhi will require 43,000 hectares.
Compensation ranges from between $4,300 a hectare, in the case of top steelmaker ArcelorMittal’s proposed plant of over 4,400 hectares in Jharkhand, to $14,600 per hectare, offered to farmers displaced by Posco’s Orissa mill.
Despite the seemingly attractive prices, farmers have few other livelihood options and land taken over for industrialization has been blamed for displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
Protests against land being taken over have become more visible as the economy expands and the rich-poor gap widens.
What does the law say?
The land acquisition law gives the state the right to take over land for public purposes with little compensation.
Critics say the government interprets “public” to include private investments and this amounts to land-grabbing. They want private firms to buy the land from the owners at market rates.
India is considering a new law which would guarantee market or higher rates.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi last week threw her support for greater land rights for farmers, following up after her son, Rahul Gandhi, extracted a promise from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to pass legislation this year that is seen benefiting farmers.
What is at stake?
Analysts cite problems in acquiring land as the biggest hindrance to rapid industrialisation of Asia’s third-largest economy, pointing to several stalled highways, power utilities and factories.
Prominent amongst these are multi-billion dollar investments by top steelmakers like ArcelorMittal, South Korea’s Posco and Tata Steel.
Protests over mining on tribal land in Orissa have stalled plans of British-based mining group Vedanta Resources Plc to extract bauxite.
Who benefits and who pays?
Proponents say setting up industries and infrastructure will boost economic growth to double-digit rates which are needed to pull out of poverty the hundreds of millions of Indians who live on less than $1.25 a day.
They say more jobs will be created, shifting people from farms to the higher-paying industrial and service sectors, and that this will deepen the domestic market for goods and services.
Opponents point at the land system that has multiple layers of tenancy and where the peasant or farm labourer is often not the owner of the land and hence receives no compensation. They also question the benefits of industrialization, saying displaced people do not get the jobs that may be created as they do not have the required skills or qualifications.
How are other countries faring?
China faces similar problems over land rights and property seizures, with an increase in the number of clashes between peasants and local government.
Some analysts have warned the confrontation could ignite broader popular demands that challenge the Communist Party’s hold over 750 million rural residents.
What are the security implications?
Maoist rebels have tapped into the resentment of tribal and rural citizens who have been displaced from their land as a result of industrial projects.
They have been linked to protests that forced Tata Motors to shift the site of a plant to build the world’s cheapest car. The rebels have also sided with farmers opposing a $3 billion chemicals hub complex and a steel plant planned by India’s No 3 steelmaker JSW Steel, among others.
A government panel has said forcible acquisitions could shake the faith of citizens in the rule of law and would have serious consequences for internal security.
How does it affect farm output?
India’s food productivity is nearly stagnant and using farm land for other purposes means the country cannot raise farm output rapidly enough. This could leave it vulnerable to food shortages in times of a bad harvest, forcing it to go for costly imports.