Rice production: mixed bag
India stands up as the best rice producer in the world (more than 140 million tons). This is very good news. A rice buffer stock of 55-65 million tonnes has turned hunger (with extreme poverty just at 2.3 percent of the population, according to estimates from the World Bank, derived from the data from household consumer spending). As the HCES data suggests, through rice-dominated food transfer to more than 80 crore people have enabled the rural population to increase discretionary consumption. However, this comes with a price: the ecological costs of cultivating Paddy.
The challenge is now to produce approximately the same level of rice (given food safety needs) in less country, with less water and inputs. In this respect, ‘that processed’ varieties of existing tribes, which are expected to ensure that 10 million tons more Paddy are produced on five million less hectares than now, promise. They are invoiced to mature early, which requires less use of water, increases the yield and are drought -resistant. However, these seed varieties must be priced at affordable rates for small farmers. Rice placed directly, what suggests the term, does it away with transplantation, offers similar benefits, just like SRI (system of rice intensification). However, these require some amount of soil pavement in terms of texture and organic content. In addition to promoting these methods (SRI may not have received the push it deserves), indigenous varieties must be revived because of their resilience against the weather appearance and their nutritional value.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research, as suggesting its own studies, does not seem to have been broken from the Green Revolution paradigm to adequately concentrate on climate -proof and sustainable tribes. Despite the release of such tribes in recent times, the good old Sona Masuri and its variants hold in. Producing a kilogram of rice may require more than 3,500 liters of water. With India that exports nearly 20 million tonnes of rice in FY25 (14 million non-Basmati), this amounts to an export of large quantities of water. The use of rice to make ethanol is the ironic use of energy (water pump from the ground) and water to produce energy. Punjab, the third largest rice producer, has grown more of the crop then should, exhaust his water table. The same applies to dry regions in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
In this scenario, oil -containing seeds and pulses must be given the top priority. Edible oils ($ 17.3 billion) and pulses ($ 5.4 billion) import hit almost $ 23 billion in FY25. The rise in the rice area, from 44.1 million hectares in FY15 to 47.8 MH in FY24, can be stammed by making the cultivation of pulses and oil seams more attractive. Increases from minimal support prices have proven to be ineffective, without timely purchasing. The deep -rooted status quo of systemic support for rice and wheat, at the expense of other crops, must be disturbed.
Published on May 23, 2025
#Editorial #rise #rice