Project Brief

The project delivered a macro scenario of paddy in India and the local food sufficiency scenario of the farmers and opportunities beyond food sufficiency.

Project Description

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa (Asian rice) or Oryza glaberrima (African rice). As a cereal grain, it is the most widely consumed staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in Asia and the West Indies. Data for 2010 shows that rice is the second most produced food grain globally, after maize (corn). It is primarily a high-energy or high caloric food. The production of rice is geographically concentrated in Western and Eastern Asia. Asia is the biggest rice producer, accounting for 90% of the world's production and consumption of rice. There are three seasons for growing rice in India - autumn, winter and summer. Rice is grown under diverse soil and climatic conditions.
The post harvesting operation of rice includes- drying operation, storage and rice milling.

The constraints in rice production are that about 78% of the farmers are small and marginal in the country and are resource-constrained. Therefore, they are not in a position to use optimum quantity of inputs required for increasing productivity. Furthermore, low soil fertility owing to soil erosion results in loss of plant nutrients and moisture. Other constraints include poor crop plant population in case of broadcast sowing method, resulting in uneven germination.