Rice is the basic food crop of India. Being a tropical plant, it flourishes comfortably in hot and humid climate. That is why it is fundamentally a kharif crop in India. It demands temperature of 25°C and above and prospers in rainfall of 100 cm and above. However, this is not yet on the map. It distinguishes very clearly the (i) western coastal strip, (ii) the eastern coastal strip, covering all the primary deltas, (iii) Assam plains and surrounding low hills, (iv) foothills and Terai region- along the Himalayas, and (v) West Bengal, Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, eastern Madhya Pradesh, northern Andhra Pradesh and the entire Orissa.
India has the biggest area under rice cultivation in the world. Its turnout of rice is next only to China. In 1950-51, area under rice cultivation was 30 million hectares. By 1997-98 it had escalated up to 43.4 million hectares. Production too climbed from 25 million tonnes to 82.3 million tonnes. Thereby its production per hectare also blasted up to 1895 kg per hectare from 668 kg- i.e. by well over two and a half times. West Bengal led the country in rice production, with a share of 3.2 million tonnes, strongly toed by Uttar Pradesh with 12.5 million tonnes. Then stood Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Tamil Nadu (in that order).
India, being a land of eternal growing season, and the deltas of Kaveri, Krishna, Godavari and Mahanadi with a thick set-up of canal irrigation, permits farmers to raise two, and in some pockets, even three crops a year. Irrigation has made even three crops a year possible. Irrigation has made it feasible even for Punjab and Haryana, known for their baked climate, to grow rice. They even export their excess to other states. Punjab and Haryana grow prized rice for export purposes. The hilly terraced fields from Kashmir to Assam are idyllically suited for rice farming, with age-old hill irrigational conveniences. High yielding kinds, enhanced planting methods, promised irrigation water supply and mounting use of fertilizers have together led to beneficial and quick results. It is the rain-fed area that cuts down average yields per hectare.
