Introduction:

What is Rice?

Rice is a grain belonging to the grass family. It is related to other grass plants such as wheat, oats and barley which produce grain for food and are known as cereals. Rice refers to two species (Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima) of grass, native to tropical and subtropical southeastern Asia and to Africa, which together provide more than one-fifth of the calories consumed by humans. The plant, which needs both warmth and moisture to grow, measures 2-6 feet tall and has long, flat, pointy leaves and stalk-bearing flowers which produce the grain known as rice. Rice is rich in genetic diversity, with thousands of varieties grown throughout the world.

Throughout history rice has been one of man's most important foods. Today, this unique grain helps sustain two-thirds of the world's population. It is life for thousands of millions of people. It is deeply embedded in the cultural heritage of their societies. About four-fifths of the world's rice is produced by small-scale farmers and is consumed locally. Rice cultivation is the principal activity and source of income for about 100 million households in Asia and Africa.

Rice in India:

Rice is grown in many regions across India. For about 65% of the people living in India, rice is a staple food for them. Rice is essential to life in India. It is a part of nearly every meal, and it is grown on a majority of the rural farms.





Rice Cultivation in India:

Methods of cultivating rice is not the same for all localities. It differs greatly in different localities. However, but in most Asian countries like India, the traditional hand methods of cultivating and harvesting rice are still practiced. The fields are prepared by
•Plowing (typically with simple plows drawn by buffalo)
•Fertilizing (usually with dung or sewage), and smoothing (by dragging a log over them). The seedlings are started in seedling beds and, after 30 to 50 days, are transplanted by hand to the fields, which have been flooded by rain or river water. During the growing season, irrigation is maintained in some areas. The fields are allowed to drain before cutting.
•Rice when it is still covered by the brown hull is known as paddy; rice fields are also called paddy fields or rice paddies.
•Before marketing, the rice is threshed to loosen the hulls-mainly by flailing, treading, or working in a mortar-and winnowed free of chaff by tossing it in the air
above a sheet or mat.

Step by Step Analysis of Rice Cultivation in India:


Climatic Conditions for Rice in India
Rice Growing Seasons in India
Rice Soils of India
Rice Eco System
Rice Seeds
Rice Cropping Pattern in India
Methods of Rice Cultivation in India

Climatic Conditions for Rice in India:

India is a large country. The wide variety of terrain leads to a wide variety of climatic conditions. These range from permanent snowfields to tropical coast lands; from areas of virtual desert in the north-west to fertile, intensively cultivated rice fields in the north-east. Generally, we consider India to lie between 8° and 35° N latitude, with a tropical and sub-tropical climate. The subcontinent has eight climatic zones all of which only have the monsoon rains in common. But even the monsoon comes to different parts of the country at different times.

Different Climatic Factors Affecting Rice Cultivation in India

There are many varieties of rice which are cultivated with differential response to climatic factors, such as :

Rainfall
Rainfall is the most important weather element for successful cultivation of rice. The distribution of rainfall in different regions of the country is greatly influenced by the physical features of the terrain, the situation of the mountains and plateau. The regions experiencing very heavy rainfall in the country are :
•Western Ghats (the western slopes and the coastal region)
•In the Assam region.
•The sub-mountain Himalayan region, Deccan plateau, Eastern Ghats with coastal plains and the vast Gangetic plains.
Temperature
Temperature is another climatic factor which has a favorable and in some cases unfavorable influence on the development, growth and yield of rice. Rice being a tropical and sub-tropical plant, requires a fairly high temperature, ranging from 20° to 40°C. The optimum temperature of 30°C during day time and 20°C during night time seems to be more favorable for the development and growth of rice crop.

Day length or Sunshine
Sunlight is very essential for the development and growth of the plants. In fact, sunlight is the source of energy for plant life. The yield of rice is influenced by the solar radiation particularly during the last 35 to 45 days of its ripening period. The effect of solar radiation is more profound where water, temperature and nitrogenous nutrients are not limiting factors. Bright sunshine with low temperature during ripening period of the crop helps in the development of carbohydrates in the grains.

Rice Growing Seasons in India:

In India, rice is grown under widely varying conditions of altitude and climate. The climate of India is difficult to lay due to the country's large geographic size and varied topography. Many regions have their own micro climates (e.g. in mountain tops), and the mean climatic conditions in Kashmir (extreme north) are very different from those in the extreme south. India's climate is strongly influenced by The Himalaya and the Thar Desert. The Himalaya ensure, by acting as a barrier to the cold north winds from Central Asia, that northern India is warm or mildly cool during winter and hot during summer. So, India as a whole is considered to be a tropical country.

Therefore, the rice growing seasons vary in different parts of the country, depending upon temperature, rainfall, soil types, water availability and other climatic conditions. In eastern and southern regions of the country, the mean temperature is found favourable for rice cultivation through out the year. Hence, two or three crops of rice are grown in a year in eastern and southern states. In northern and western parts of the country, where rainfall is high and winter temperature is fairly low, only one crop of rice is grown during the month from May to November.

Three Seasons for Rice Cultivation in India

There are three seasons for growing rice in India. These three seasons are named according to the season of harvest of the crop.

Rice Soils of India:

Rice is grown in many regions across India. India alone has about 45 million hectares of area, and it produces on an average 93 million metric tons of rice since 2001 onwards. Rice cultivation has been carried into all regions having the necessary warmth and abundant moisture favorable to its growth, mainly subtropical rather than hot or cold.

In India, rice is grown in different types of soils. Experts point out that in India, rice is grown in such varied soil conditions that it is difficult to point out the soil on which it cannot be grown. However, soils having
•Good water retention capacity.
•Good amount of clay and organic matter are considered ideal for rice cultivation.
It grows well in soils having a pH range between 5.5 and 6.5. The classification of soils has been done depending upon the soil texture, colour of the soil etc.

Rice Eco System:

Rice farming is practiced in several agro ecological zones in India. No other country in the world has such diversity in rice ecosystems than India. Because cultivation is so widespread, development of four distinct types of ecosystems has occurred in India, such as:
•Irrigated Rice Eco System
•Rainfed Upland Rice Eco System
•Rainfed Lowland Rice Eco System
•Flood Prone Rice Eco System
Irrigated Rice Eco System
•Irrigated ecosystems are the primary type found in East Asia.
•Irrigated ecosystems provide 75% of global rice production.
•In India, the total area under irrigated rice is about 22.00 million hectares, which accounts about 49.5% of the total area under rice crop in the country.
•Rice is grown under irrigated conditions in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.
•Irrigated rice is grown in bunded (embanked), paddy fields.
Rainfed Upland Rice Eco System
•Upland zones are found in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
•In India, the total area under upland rain fed rice in the country is about 6.00 million hectares, which accounts13.5% of the total area under rice crop in the country.
•Upland rice areas lies in eastern zone comprising of Assam, Bihar, Eastern M.P., Orissa, Eastern U.P., West Bengal and North-Eastern Hill region.
•Upland rice fields are generally dry, unbunded, and directly seeded.
•Land utilized in upland rice production can be low lying, drought-prone, rolling, or steep sloping.
Rainfed Lowland Rice Eco System
•Rainfed low-land rice is grown in such areas as East India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand, and is 25% of total rice area used worldwide.
•In India, low land rice area is about 14.4 million hectares, which accounts 32.4 % of the total area under rice crop in the country.
•Production is variable because of the lack of technology used in rice production.
•Rainfed lowland farmers are typically challenged by poor soil quality, drought/flood conditions, and erratic yields
Flood Prone Rice Eco System

Flood-prone ecosystems are prevalent in South and Southeast Asia, and are characterized by periods of extreme flooding and drought. Yields are low and variable. Flooding occurs during the wet season from June to November, and rice varieties are chosen for their level of tolerance to submersion.

Rice ecosystems in India represent 24% of irrigated areas, 34% of rainfed lowlands, 26% of flood-prone areas and 37% of rainfed uplands cultivated to rice in the entire world.

Rice Seeds:

Seed is an important and basic input for achieving higher crop yield and increasing a country's agricultural economy. Thus it is very important to maintain seed quality by understanding the right mechanism. Seed markets are generally built around hybrid varieties, which do not reproduce and so force farmers to purchase new seeds every season. Rice, however, is a self-pollinating crop, making hybrid rice seed production costly and difficult, and nearly all rice in Asia is still grown with farmer-saved seeds.

Rice Cropping Pattern in India:

Rice cropping pattern in India vary widely from region to region and to a lesser extent from one year to another year depending on a wide range of soil and climatic conditions.

Some of the rice based cropping patterns being followed in the country are as follows :
•Rice-Rice-Rice
•Rice-Rice-Cereals (other than rice)
•Rice-Rice-Pulses
•Rice-Groundnut
•Rice-Wheat
•Rice-Wheat-Pulses
•Rice-Toria-Wheat
•Rice-Fish farming system
Rice-Rice-Rice:

This is most suitable for areas having high rainfall and assured irrigation facilities in summer months, particularly, in soils which have high water holding capacity and low rate of infiltration. In some canal irrigated areas of Tamil Nadu, a cropping pattern of 300% intensity is followed. In such areas three crops of rice are grown in a year.

Rice-Rice-Cereals:
(other than rice)
This cropping pattern is being followed in the areas where the water is not adequate for taking rice crop in summer. The alternate cereal crops to rice being grown are Ragi, Maize and Jowar.

Rice-Rice-Pulses:
In the areas where, there is a water scarcity to take up cereal crops other than rice in summer, the short duration pulse crops are being raised.

Rice-Groundnut:
This cropping pattern is being followed by the farmers of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. After harvesting of rice crop, groundnut is grown in summer.

Rice-Wheat:

This crop rotation has become dominant cropping pattern in the Northern parts of the country.

Rice-Wheat-Pulses:

In this sequence of cropping pattern, after harvesting of wheat green gram and cowpea as fodder are grown in the alluvial soil belt of Northern states. Besides, cowpea is grown in red and yellow soils of Orissa and black gram is grown in the black soils.

Rice-Toria-Wheat:

Rice-wheat cropping pattern is the most common and largest one. The Rice-wheat cropping pattern is being practiced in the Indo-Gangetic plains of India since long time.

Rice-Fish farming system:

The field with sufficient water retaining capacity for a long period and free from heavy flooding are suitable for rice-fish farming system. This system is being followed by the small and marginal poor farmers in rain fed lowland rice areas.

Methods of Rice Cultivation in India:

The systems of rice cultivation in various rice-growing areas of the country are largely dependent upon the rice-growing conditions prevalent in the respective regions. The method of cultivation of rice in a particular region depends largely on factors such as situation of land, type of soils, irrigation facilities, availability of labourers intensity and distribution of rainfalls. The principal systems followed in India are :