Rice prices firm up due to decline in paddy acreage

New Delhi. The cultivation area for paddy—the most important food grain of the Kharif season—has seen a significant decline this year due to deficient and erratic monsoon rainfall across several regions, ranging from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand. While acreage decreased in some states, it saw a marginal increase in others.

Paddy is cultivated across the country and requires the highest amount of water for irrigation. A lack of monsoon rainfall was observed in South India and Maharashtra this year. Deficient rainfall in specific areas of other states also impacted paddy transplantation. Paddy cultivation is now largely complete, and the latest data indicates that the area under this crop reached only 433.60 lakh hectares during the Kharif season—a decline of 15.60 lakh hectares (or 3.47 percent) compared to the previous year's 449.20 lakh hectares.

Harvesting of the new paddy crop has already commenced in some states and is set to begin in others in the coming days. Anticipation of lower production has caused rice prices to firm up. Prices for fine-grade non-Basmati rice have risen by 8–10 percent, while the prices of Basmati paddy and rice have also increased.