Top Indian states by Rice Production
Rice is one of the chief grains of India and it has the largest area under rice cultivation. India is the world’s second-largest producer of rice, and the largest exporter of rice in the world.
In 2020, world production of paddy rice was 756.7 million metric tons (834.1 million short tons), led by China and India with a combined 52% of this total. India Rice Production increased from 53.6 million tons in FY 1980 to 130 million tons in FY 2021-22. Rice yield per hectare in 2021-22 is 2809 kg/hectare.
India is the leading exporter of the Basmati Rice to the global market. In the financial year 2018-19, India exported around 4.4 million metric tons of Basmati rice worth USD 4.7 billion.
Rice Growing Regions
The rice growing areas in the country can be broadly grouped into five regions as given below:
1. North-Eastern Region: This region comprises of Assam and North eastern states. In Assam rice is grown in the Basin of Brahmaputra River. This region receives very heavy rainfall and rice is grown under rain fed condition.
2. Eastern Region: It region comprises of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. In this region rice is grown in the basins of Ganga and Mahanadi rivers and has the highest intensity of rice cultivation in the country. This region receives heavy rainfall and rice is grown mainly under rainfed conditions.
3. Northern Region: This region comprises of Haryana, Punjab, Western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. The region experiences low winter temperature and single crop of rice from May-July to September December is grown
4. Western Region: This region comprises of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Rice is largely grown under rainfed condition during June-August to October – December.
5. Southern Region: This region comprises of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Rice is mainly grown in deltaic tracts of Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery rivers and the non-Delta rained area of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Rice is grown under irrigated condition in Delta tracts
Source: https://www.nfsm.gov.in/
Statewise Rice Production
Rice is grown in almost all the states in the country however the major 5 states in rice production are West Bengal, UP, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. The west Bengal and Uttar Pradesh produces 30% of total quantity of rice produced in the country.
The state with Largest area under rice cultivation are Uttar Pradesh (5737.0 thousand heactares), West Bengal (5491.0 thousand ha), Odisha (3940.7 thousand ha), Chhattisgarh (3666.0 thousand ha) and Punjab ( 2920.0 thousand ha)
The Indian states with the highest areas of Basmati rice under production are Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Western Uttar Pradesh.
Let’s have a look at the States by Area under Rice Cultivation and Rice Production
| # | State/Union Territory | Area under Cultivation 2019-20 (Thousand Hectares) |
Rice Production 2021-22 (Thousand tonnes) |
| 1 | West Bengal | 5491.0 | 16762.7 |
| 2 | Uttar Pradesh | 5737.0 | 15273.4 |
| 3 | Punjab | 2920.0 | 12885 |
| 4 | Telangana | 2011.0 | 12302.2 |
| 5 | Odisha | 3940.7 | 9136 |
| 6 | Tamil Nadu | 1907.4 | 8067.3 |
| 7 | Chhattisgarh | 3666.0 | 7897.7 |
| 8 | Andhra Pradesh | 2300.1 | 7789.2 |
| 9 | Bihar | 2886.4 | 7064.1 |
| 10 | Assam | 2290.5 | 5268 |
| 11 | Madhya Pradesh | 2016.0 | 4814.9 |
| 12 | Haryana | 1447.0 | 4618 |
| 13 | Karnataka | 1185.0 | 4333.4 |
| 14 | Maharashtra | 1553.0 | 3631.5 |
| 15 | Jharkhand | 1357.7 | 2927.6 |
| 16 | Gujarat | 904.4 | 2115.4 |
| 17 | Tripura | 267.3 | 803.1 |
| 18 | Uttarakhand | 247.0 | 710.7 |
| 19 | Kerala | 198.2 | 630 |
| 20 | Manipur* | 175.6 | 602.2 |
| 21 | Jammu and Kashmir* | 280.5 | 581.5 |
| 22 | Rajasthan | 219.5 | 478.6 |
| 23 | Nagaland* | 217.0 | 367.4 |
| 24 | Meghalaya* | 111.0 | 295.8 |
| 25 | Arunachal Pradesh* | 133.5 | 247.1 |
| 26 | Himachal Pradesh | 72.6 | 140.5 |
| 27 | Goa* | 34.7 | 87.3 |
| 28 | Mizoram* | 35.2 | 62.2 |
| 29 | Sikkim | 8.7 | 16.2 |
| 30 | Puducherry | 18.2 | |
| 31 | NCT of Delhi* | 5.8 | |
| ALL INDIA | 43638.1 | 130290.6 |
*figures from previous year
Source: https://www.nfsm.gov.in/ and RBI Statistic