Seeding the rice success

With an estimated rice production of over 149 million tonnes this year, India has become the world's largest producer of this most consumed staple cereal, relegating China to second position.

- SURINDER SUD

India has also been the top rice exporter since 2012, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the global rice trade. Besides, the government holds a massive rice stock of about 59.5 million tonnes, more than four times the buffer stocking norm of 13.5 million tonnes for this time of the year.

Since India is also the world's second-largest producer, and an established, even if somewhat irregular, exporter of wheat, it merits to be counted among the world's major food grain powerhouses, and a key player in the international food market.

This is a remarkable feat, especially for a country that has to feed a mammoth population of 1.4 billion and has a farm sector comprising largely small and marginal landholders. The credit for this is attributable to all stakeholders in the rice sector, particularly farm scientists, for developing, and continuously updating, crop-production technology, including improved varieties, and the farmers for readily embracing the new technologies despite the scale constraints. Favourable food-management policies, involving the supply of subsidised inputs and assured marketing of the produce at pre-fixed prices (read minimum support prices), also contributed to it.