Maclean et al. - 2002 - Rice almanac source book for the most important e

The Rajasthan desert extending westward to
Gilgit is a region of low precipitation. In between
are two areas of moderately high and low rainfall.
The area of high rainfall is a broad belt in the part
of the peninsula merging northward with the
Indian plains and southward with the coastal
plains. The low rainfall area is a belt extending
from the Punjab plains across the Vindhya
mountains into the western part of the Deccan
region, widening considerably in the Mysore
plateau.
India is the world’s second most populous
nation, with a population in 2000 of 1,014 million
growing at 1.7% per year. The rural population in
2000 was 726 million.
Recent developments in the rice sector
Agriculture is the backbone of India’s economy,
providing direct employment to about 67% of the
working people in the country. It forms the basis
of many premier industries of India, including the
textile, jute, and sugar industries. Agriculture
contributes about 29% to GDP; one-fourth of
India’s exports are agricultural products.
Rice is the staple food of 65% of the total
population in India. It constitutes about 52% of
the total food grain production and 55% of total
cereal production. Food grains consist of cereals
such as rice, wheat, sorghum, pearl millet, and
maize as well as pulses. Food crops grow on
nearly 70% of the gross sown area. Important
commercial crops are cotton, jute, sugarcane, and
tobacco.
Rough rice production reached 134 million t
in 2000 from 112 million t in 1990, growing at
1.9% annually. The growth rate has slowed down
significantly from 3.4% per year during the
1980s, mainly from the sluggish performance in
the progressive states such as Punjab, Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Haryana, as many
districts in these states are approaching the
economically optimum yield with the available
technologies.
The rough rice yield has increased from 2.61
t/ha in 1990 to 3.01 t/ha in 2000, an annual
growth of 1.4%. In Punjab and Tamil Nadu,
where almost the entire rice land is irrigated,
yield has reached 5.26 t/ha and 5.38 t/ha (1998),
respectively. Yield fluctuates widely in Bihar and
Orissa, states that suffer from drought and floods
often in the same year, making rice cultivation a
highly risky economic activity.
Adoption of modern technology
Since 1965, India has released about 640
improved rice varieties: 54% of them for irrigated
areas, 27% for the rainfed lowland, and 19% for
upland areas. The coverage of modern highyielding
rice varieties reached 78% of the rice
harvested area by 1999. The rate of adoption
varies from 67% in Assam in the northeast to
more than 90% in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,
and Kerala in the south. Since a large area in the
irrigated states of Punjab and Haryana in the
northwest is allocated for the production of highquality
basmati rice, traditional varieties account
for a significant portion of rice land in these
states.
Swarna (MTU 7029), a derivative of
Mahsuri, is the most popular improved rice
variety that is grown in a large number of states.
In 1999, it was grown on about 12% of India’s
rice land. The other popular varieties are Vijeta
(MTU 1001), Samba Mahsuri (BPT 5204),
Mahsuri, Lalat, IR64, and IR36.
Data on fertilizer sales show a large regional
variation in the use of nutrients. NPK use varies
from less than 50 kg/ha in Assam, Orissa, and
Madhya Pradesh (mostly rainfed areas) to more
than 140 kg/ha in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, and
Haryana (irrigated land). A report on the cost of
cultivation of principal crops in 2000 notes a
heavy use of pesticides in rice cultivation in
Punjab and Andhra Pradesh but very little in other
states. Mechanization of agricultural operations is
prevalent in Punjab and Haryana and is gaining
ground in Andhra Pradesh, western Uttar Pradesh,
and West Bengal, but is almost absent in other
states.
External trade
In the 1960s, India imported 0.7 to 1.0 million t
of rice annually to meet the deficit in domestic
demand. India became self-sufficient in rice in
1977 with imports of small amounts in years of
crop failures. The latest large imports were 0.5
million t in 1984, 0.7 million t in 1988, and 0.47
million t in 1989. Since then, imports of rice have
been limited to below 100,000 t.
India exports a small amount of high-quality
basmati (aromatic) rice on a regular basis.
Exports of rice jumped from 0.9 million t in 1994
to 4.9 million t in 1995 in response to the large
increase in demand in the world market.
However, India could not sustain exports at that
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