Premium-grade rice prices surge amid fears of production decline

18-Sep-2026 11:36 AM

Hyderabad. A deficit in monsoon rainfall across South India has significantly reduced the cultivation area for premium-quality (A-grade) paddy and hindered crop progress. Consequently, there are concerns about a drop in the production of high-quality paddy and rice, leading to a sharp rise of nearly 50 percent in rice prices. The acreage for A-grade paddy varieties such as Ponni, Sona Masuri, and BPT has shrunk considerably in the southern states.

Indications suggest that the cultivation area for Ponni and Sona Masuri paddy has declined by 30–40 percent in states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. This reduction in acreage is not limited to the southern states; paddy cultivation areas have also decreased in several other parts of the country during the current Kharif season, including states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. According to the Union Ministry of Agriculture, the total national paddy cultivation area stood at 426.81 lakh hectares as of September 11—a decrease of 16.97 lakh hectares (or approximately 4 percent) compared to the 443.78 lakh hectares recorded during the same period last year.

Industry analysts predict a massive drop of up to 100 lakh tonnes in domestic rice production during the 2026–27 season compared to 2025–26. Compared to the previous year, the paddy cultivation area during the current Kharif season has declined by 4.54 lakh hectares in Karnataka, 4.46 lakh hectares in Telangana, 1.90 lakh hectares in Andhra Pradesh, 1.84 lakh hectares in Uttar Pradesh, 1.75 lakh hectares in Madhya Pradesh, 1.40 lakh hectares in Tamil Nadu, 1.15 lakh hectares in Maharashtra, and 97,000 hectares in Jharkhand. In Andhra Pradesh, the price of 'A' grade BPT rice has surged from ₹4,000 per quintal last year to ₹6,200 per quintal, while the average price of Sona Masuri and Ponni rice is reported to be around ₹8,000 per quintal.