Why in the News?

India’s rice production has reached its highest-ever level, accompanied by excess central stocks far beyond food security requirements. Rice stocks crossed 63.06 million tonnes in January 2026, nearly three times the buffer norm, signalling structural imbalance rather than temporary surplus. This marks a sharp contrast from earlier decades when production increases were aimed at eliminating shortages and stabilising prices.

How Has Rice Production Expanded Over Time?

1. Production Growth: Increased from 40 million tonnes in 1969-70 to 150 million tonnes in 2024-25, reflecting sustained expansion rather than episodic growth.
2. Area Expansion: Acreage rose from 37.67 million hectares to 51.42 million hectares, indicating reliance on area expansion in addition to yield gains.
3. Yield Improvement: Productivity reached 3.28 tonnes per hectare, though with wide inter-state variation.
4. Regional Concentration: Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and West Bengal dominate output.

Why Are Central Rice Stocks Excessive?

1. Procurement Dominance: Nearly 56.1% of total rice procurement originates from Punjab, Haryana, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh.
2. MSP Incentives: Assured MSP procurement has encouraged continuous paddy cultivation irrespective of demand.
3. Food Corporation of India Storage: Rice stocks stood at 63.06 million tonnes, exceeding buffer and strategic reserve norms.
4. Fiscal Burden: FCI storage costs exceed ₹3 per kg per year, excluding power, fertiliser, and irrigation subsidies.

What Role Does Government Policy Play in Paddy Dominance?

1. Minimum Support Price: MSP for common paddy pegged at ₹2,300 per quintal, ensuring price certainty.
2. Procurement Bias: Rice enjoys stronger procurement assurance than most alternative crops.
3. Power Subsidies: Free or subsidised electricity lowers irrigation costs, reinforcing paddy cultivation.
4. Risk Aversion: Farmers prefer paddy due to assured returns over diversified crops with uncertain markets.

Why Is Paddy Cultivation Environmentally Unsustainable?

1. Water Intensity: Paddy requires 3,000-5,000 litres of water per kg, stressing water resources.
2. Groundwater Depletion: Excessive withdrawal in Punjab has led to severe groundwater decline.
3. Regional Unsuitability: Paddy expansion in water-stressed states contradicts agro-climatic suitability.
4. Environmental Stress: Continuous monocropping degrades soil health and water tables.

Why Has Crop Diversification Not Taken Off?

1. Economic Risk: Alternative crops offer lower or uncertain returns compared to paddy.
2. Market Absence: Limited procurement and price support for pulses, oilseeds, and millets.
3. Institutional Inertia: Existing procurement and subsidy architecture remains rice-centric.
4. Behavioural Lock-in: Decades of MSP-driven cultivation patterns discourage experimentation.

What Measures Are Being Considered for Diversification?

1. Direct Incentives: Proposal to compensate farmers who shift away from paddy.
2. Income Replacement: Incentive amounts aimed at bridging the income gap from paddy cultivation.
3. Target Regions: Focus on states with declining groundwater and paddy over-concentration.
4. Strategic Shift: Emphasis on conserving water alongside nutritional security.

Conclusion

India’s rice production milestone underscores the success of assured procurement and productivity gains. However, excess stocks, rising fiscal costs, and groundwater depletion reveal structural imbalances. Sustaining food security now requires recalibrating incentives, correcting procurement bias, and aligning cropping patterns with ecological realities rather than expanding output indefinitely.

PYQ Relevance

[UPSC 2020] What are the major factors responsible for making rice-wheat system a success? In spite of this success how has this system become bane in India?

Linkage: The rice-wheat system succeeded due to assured MSP procurement, irrigation expansion, and Green Revolution technologies, ensuring food security. However, it has become a bane due to groundwater depletion, soil stress, fiscal burden, and poor crop diversification, making it a core GS-III sustainability issue.

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