INTRODUCTION
Agriculture is the main source of income for families in India. Rice is the staple diet for about 65% people and cultivation of rice is the main occupation of those engaged in agriculture. It is grown in many regions across India. It is a part of nearly every meal, and it is grown on a majority of the rural farms. Rice is essential to life in India. India is the world's second largest producer of white rice. Here rice is cultivated in both seasons-winter and summer. It contributes about 43% of total food grain production and 46% of total cereal production in the country. It continues to play vital role in the national exports. The percentage share of rice in total national export was 4.5% during 1998-99. The percentage share of agriculture export in total national export was 18.25, whereas the percentage share of rice export in total agriculture export was 24.62 during 1998-99. Thus, rice export contributes nearly 25% of total agriculture export from the country. In Assam rice occupies about two-third of the total cropped area in the state. The state experiences plenty of rainfall and possesses a fertile land which is extremely advantageous for cropping. This has led to the flourishing growth in food crops and staples in Assam agriculture. Other food crops cultivated in Assam agriculture include jute, sugarcane, fruits, tea, pulses, coconut, potatoes, cotton, and areca nuts. More than 50 percent of the total population of the state is involved in agricultural activities. During 2009-10 in rice production Assam is close to become the second state in the country. In this respect the projected productivity rate is 7.4 per cent against the 16 per cent of Tamil Nadu and 3 per cent of Orissa over the 2008-09 rates. The state is able to achieve 2 1 percent increases in production and 13 percent increase in productivity in 2009-10 than2007-08. During 2001-02 the state was able to produce about 38.54 lakh MTs rice and during 2009-10 it raised up to five lakh Matrix Tone. At the end of the Tenth Five Year plan the rate of agricultural growth was minus0.27 percent. In 2007-08, it shot up to 0.23percent,while in2008-09 it further grew to 1.20percent and in 2009-10 it is feared that it may go beyond 2 percent. Among the rice producing states of the country, Assam could occupy the ninth position in 2008-09, producing 40.70 lakh Matrix Tone (MTs) of rice in total. Compared to 2007-08 Assam could bring seven percent more land under rice cultivation in that year. During 2007-08 the state could produce 33.20 lakh MTs of rice with an area of 23.24 lakh hectares of land under paddy cultivation.
SECTOR SCENARIO IN ASSAM ECONOMY:
RICE PRODUCTION Agriculture plays a vital role in economy of Assam contributing 32.56 percent to the net State Domestic product in 2001-02 at current price. The state of Assam comprising 21 numbers of plain district and 2 numbers of hill districts fall under high potential zone for raising agricultural productivity. Assam is basically an agrarian state with more than 70 percent of its population (2.66 crores as per 2001 census) taking agricultural practices either fully or partially. Out of the total geographical area of 78.43 lakh hectares, almost one-third (30.42 percent) is under net cultivation covering an area of 23.86 lakh hectares (excluding tea area). The gross cropped area occupies about 36.37 lakh hectares. The cropping intensity is 152.43 percent. Rice, which is at present grown mainly during kharif seasons, dominates the agriculture scenario in Assam, of which winter (Sali) rice in 2002-03 occupied an area of 17.49 lakh hectares and autumn (Ahu) rice another 4.64 lakh hectares. The third rice known as summer (Rabi) rice is grown in an area of 3.27 lakh hectares. The area under summer rice has shown an increasing trend with advancement of irrigation facilities by way of Shallow Tube Well (STW). The other food grain crops like wheat (0.70 lakh hectares), pulses (1.23 lakh hectares) and maize etc. (0.20 lakh hectares) are also grown. The important commercial crops are oilseeds (3.39 lakh hectares), sugarcane (0.25 lakh hectares) and jute (0.68 lakh hectares).
POSITION OF RICE PRODUCTION SYSTEM IN ASSAM
At present, rice occupies about two-third of the total cropped area in the state. Being the single major source of agricultural GDP, rice plays a significant role in the state economy. Further, its importance in the consumption basket also speaks volumes on the rice orientation of the state. Another specialty is that the rice is traditionally-grown throughout the year viz. winter, autumn and summer seasons, with winter rice as the main crop. Assam occupies a special place in the rain fed rice production system in the eastern India by covering about 9 per cent of the total rice area and contributes 8 per cent to the production. At the national level, the state contributes over 5 per cent of rice area and 4 per cent of rice production. Though Assam produced about 3.4 million tons of rice in 1997-98, the state is deficient to the tune of a million tons making the state a net importer of rice. Continuing deficiency of the major food item is a critical issue of food and nutritional security, causing concern to the policy makers. The productivity of rice has stuck a low at 1.35 tons per ha, well below the national average of about 2 tons. The regional and zonal disparities in the rice production system are also very intriguing. It is thus imperative to undertake an in-depth study of the changes in rice economy in the state (under NATP funding entitled "Socio-economic Dynamics of Changes in Rice Production System in Eastern India"). To understand the evolution of rice production system since independence, examine the modern technological scenario in different agro-ecosystems; test the hypothesis of inter-zonal disparities of performance of rice technology and to identify the policy interventions in agriculture.
CONCLUSION
Rice research in India has been highly rewarding, generating returns close to 30-50% (Jha and Kumar 1999). But, the agricultural research in eastern India requires particular emphasis on boosting research and development efforts for rain fed (upland and lowland) rice research system. The basic rice research in the state, though far from adequate, has mostly been confined to the varietal development and improvement. Very little attention has been paid to the crucial areas such as sustainability, ecosystem research, efficiency, marketing etc. There are few micro-level case studies at the village level or at the block level and fewer at the district level. These case studies generally pertain to farmers’ adoption behavior, gender and energy use pattern and impact assessment. The case studies are important for improving the production environment at the local level but hardly capable to address broader policy issues at the regional level. Studies at the zonal or regional level, based on homogeneous aggro-ecosystems, are very limited. Further, research in other frontier areas such as credit, constraints, risk management, crop diversification, efficiency, marketing and trade, export and socio-economic are
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