Rice is an important crop of India. Rice is the staple food of most of the population of the country. Indian rank is second after China in rice producing countries of the world. India produces 22% rice of the world. Rice is grown on about one – fourth of the total sown area of the country.
Necessary geographical conditions: Rice is a tropical wet climate crop. It has more than 3000 varieties which are grown in different climatic regions.
Following are the ideal geographical conditions for its cultivation:
1. Temperature: For its cultivation, at least 20° centigrade temperature is essential at the time of planting and 27° centigrade temperature is needed at the time of ripening.
2. Rainfall: More water is needed for rice farming. Generally, its farming is done in the areas where annual rainfall is 100 – 200 cm. With the help of irrigation, its farming can be done in the areas where rainfall is less than 100 cm.
3. Soil: More fertile land is needed for its farming and clayey loamy soil is suitable for it because this soil can hold the moisture for a long time. The alluvium brought by floods is best for its growth.
4. Land: Plain areas are suitable for it so that rain water or irrigation water can remain in the field for a long time. In mountainous regions, its farming can be done by making terraced farms.
5. Labour: Machines are not used in its cultivation. Its farming needs more labour.
Production and Distribution: In India, its farming is done on 200 meters high land from sea level. From wet land of East India to arid but irrigated areas of land in Punjab, Haryana, Western U. P. and in Northern Rajasthan its farming is being done successfully.
In India, in 2015 – 16, 103.36 million tons of rice was produced, which was 40.97% of total food grain production.
The percentage of rice production in various states of India is given below:
1. West Bengal: 14 percent area of rice production of the country is present here. On the basis of year 2014-15, by producing 14.32% rice, it remained at the first position. The chief producing areas are CoochBehar, Jalpaiguri, Bankura, Midnapur and Darjeeling. Here, Os, Aman and Boro crops are grown, manure is less needed due to fertile land of flood plains.
2. Uttar Pradesh: After green revolution, production increased manifold. Here, rice production grew by 12% of the total rice production of the country. In major producing districts, Saharanpur, Deoria, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Bahraich, Gonda, Balia, Raebareli and Pilibhit are included. In 2014-15, the production was 12.2 million tons, which was 11.7% of total production of the country.
3. Andhra Pradesh: This state, in 2014 – 15, on the production basis, remained at the 3rd position by producing 11% rice of the country.
4. Punjab: Traditionally a wheat producing state, punjab progressed significantly in rice production total after green revolution. In 2011 – 12, in Punjab, 108.3 lakh tons rice was produced which was 11.29% of total production of the country. Major producing districts are Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Roopnagar, Ludhiana, Kapoorthala etc. In 2014 – 15, by producing 3952 kg per hectare, it remained at first place.
5. Bihar: In this state, in the season of rice, 2 crops are grown. In total agricultural land, 40% part is used for growing rice. Major producing districts are Saran, Champaran, Gaya, Darbhanga, Munger, Purnia etc. where paddy is grown.
6. Tamil Nadu: This state has 6-10% contribution in total rice production of the country. Here, in the delta of Kaveri alone, Thanjavur produces 25% rice.
7. Chhattisgarh: The plains of Chhatisgarh are important for rice cultivation. And it is often called the ‘rice bowl of India’. Bilaspur, Bastar, Surguja, Raigarh, Dantewara, Narayanpur, are the major producing districts.
8. Odisha: Rice is produced on 58% of the total agricultural land of this state which produces 6 to 8% of the total rice requirement of the country. Balasore, Cuttack, Puri, Mayurbhanj, Kalahandi etc. are the major districts of rice production. Indian Rice Research Institute is in Cuttack.
9. Rajasthan: Dungarpur, Bundi, Banswara, Hanumangarh, Shriganaganagar are the major rice producing districts. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Assam, Kerala, Meghalaya, Goa, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram etc. are other states which also produce rice
