India remains a global rice powerhouse, producing a record 152 million tonnes of rice in the 2025–26 crop year, second only to China. India also leads globally in rice exports (over 20 million tonnes in 2025), underlining rice’s centrality to national food security and rural livelihoods.
Factors Responsible for the Success of Rice Cultivation:
- Green Revolution and Technology push: The Green Revolution introduced high-yielding varieties (HYVs), mechanisation, and improved inputs, doubling rice output since the 1960s. SRI (System of Rice Intensification) and hybrid seeds have raised yields by 20–50% in some states.
- MSP & Procurement support: The Minimum Support Price (MSP) regime and procurement ensured by FCI/PDS have anchored rice cultivation. In 2024–25, over 50 million tonnes of paddy were procured at MSP.
- Favourable Agro-Climatic Conditions: Warm temperatures, monsoonal rainfall (more than 100 cm isohyets), abundant alluvial plains (Indo-Gangetic belt), and irrigation infrastructure enable multi-cropping and high productivity.
- Consumption Patterns: Rice is a staple for many Indians. The Public Distribution System (PDS) and food schemes like PM-GKAY also sustain both demand and production.
- Supporting Institutions & Research: Institutes under ICAR and KVKs have developed drought-, flood- and salt-tolerant varieties and promoted best practices.
Rice-Centric System Has Become a Bane:
Ecological Costs:
- Groundwater Depletion: In Punjab and Haryana, intensive paddy irrigation has dropped water tables by 0.7 metres/year, with many blocks officially “over-exploited.”
- Air Pollution: Stubble burning of 92 million tonnes of residue annually contributes to Delhi-NCR’s winter smog.
- Soil & Water Degradation: Overuse of urea (32 kg/ha vs. recommended 20 kg/ha) has lowered soil organic carbon and increased nitrate run-off, contaminating water bodies.
Economic challenges:
- Productivity Gap: India’s average rice yield at 2.7 t/ha is significantly below China at 6.9 t/ha, indicating room for technological and management improvements.
- Input Costs & Farmer Returns: Rising costs of fertilisers and labour (15% increase recently) reduce net incomes, especially for smallholders.
- Market Distortions: Long-term MSP dependence has reduced market responsiveness and entrepreneurial incentives among farmers.
Social costs:
- Seasonality of Employment: Rice cultivation is labour-intensive only at transplanting and harvest, causing disguised unemployment and seasonal distress migration.
Way Forward:
- Diversify Cropping Patterns: Promote millets, pulses, and oilseeds through assured procurement and price support to reduce ecological pressure and improve nutrition.
- Water-Smart Rice Practices: Scale up SRI, direct seeding, laser land levelling, and AWD irrigation to cut water use by 30–40%.
- Decentralised Procurement: Expand MSP/procurement to nutri-cereals and pulses in all states; develop competitive domestic markets through FPOs to reduce dependency on rice alone.
- Strengthen Research & Extension: Invest in climate-resilient and high-nutrient varieties and enhance KVK and ICAR linkages for faster technology diffusion.
- Crop management: Promote mechanised residue management through Happy Seeder, balers etc and incentivise cover crops and organic amendments to rebuild soil health.
Conclusion:
An Evergreen Revolution, focused on resource conservation, crop diversification, and inclusive market reforms is essential to secure farming futures while meeting national food and climate goals.
‘+1’ Value Addition:
- Flooded paddy fields contribute 11% of India’s total methane emissions.
- A 1°C rise in temperature reduces rice yields by 6% per season.
- In parts of Bihar and West Bengal, groundwater-irrigated rice shows arsenic levels exceeding WHO limits.
- Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) in many rice belts has declined by 30–50% since the Green Revolution.
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