Manya Rathore
Research expert covering India
Rice market in India - statistics & facts
Rice is the most common staple food in many Asian countries including India. Rice is India’s most significant food crop. It is a Kharif (autumn) crop cultivated in warmer regions during the monsoon season from June to September. Rice is extracted from the paddy crop during harvesting. The leading rice-producing states were West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha. Over 3,000 varieties of rice are grown across the country, some of which take as less as 60 to 75 days to be grown. The South Asian peninsular ranked second for consumption of rice globally. This barely comes as a surprise when more than half of the Indian population consumes rice. Of all varieties, white rice is most consumed as it also helps with digestive problems.
Rice exports from India
India was the world’s largest rice exporter, followed by Thailand and Vietnam. The export of rice other than the basmati variety increased by a whopping 109 percent since 2014, with parboiled rice making up the majority of exports in this category. Milled rice, broken rice, rice in husk, and husked brown rice were also exported. The country exported rice to over 150 nations, continuing to extend its market share in Africa, Asia, and Europe. In 2022, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, and the United Arab Emirates were the major importers of Indian rice.Impact of rice production
Rice requires highly specific environmental conditions to grow. After maize, rice was the world’s most produced crop. India ranked second in rice production globally. This volume amounted to over 129 million metric tons in financial year 2022. The Indian rice industry is positively impacted by government support for rice production, suitable monsoon season, an increase in the number of rice processing industries, and exports. However, climate change has had an impact on the crop seasons, along with high fertilizers prices, inadequate irrigation systems, and issues within the farming communities. The most recent of the latter involved the farmer protests, one of the largest demonstrations in the world. Despite these shortcomings, however, the annual yield of rice was 2.8 metric tons per hectare in fiscal year 2022, significantly higher than the previous year.
