Short Paragraph on Trade of Rice in India!
Large producers of rice are its large consumers also and there is little surplus for trade.
However some interstate trade is carried on and about ten per cent of the total production enters trade.
Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are surplus states and supply rice to deficit states like West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala and Delhi.
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Even in the face of huge home consumption of rice, it is amusing to note that rice exports from India have grown steadily during the last decade reaching 3,412.1 thousand tonnes worth Rs. 4,708 crore during the year 2003-04 (Table 24.4). India now occupies second position in rice exports, next only to Thailand, among the rice trading countries of the world.
Table 24.4 Export of Rice from India:
| Year | 1970-71 | 1980-81 | 1990-91 | 1995-96 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 |
| Quantity (’000 tonnes) | 32.8 | 726.7 | 505.0 | 4914.0 | 1534.4 | 2208.4 | 4967.8 | 3412.1 |
| Value (Rs. crore) | 5 | 224 | 462 | 4568 | 2943 | 3174 | 5831 | 4708 |
However, the surplus production scenario has no room for the complacency, keeping in view the rapid growth of population, per capita consumption of 235 grams/day and the vagaries of monsoon. It is estimated that the rice demand in 2010 will be 100 million tonnes and in 2025, the demand will be a whooping 140 million tonnes.
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This projected demand can only be met by maintaining steady increase in production over the years. In the post WTO (World Trade Organisation, 1995) era, adequate rice is be produced not only for self sufficiency but also for export purposes.
The exportable surplus of good quality rice is to be produced at the competitive price. Since India has got the comparative advantage in Basmati rice’s, all efforts are being made to increase the production and productivity.