Rice production in Telangana touches 1.3 tonnes

Rice production in Telangana has increased by more than 20 per cent on a year-on-year basis. The production has now touched 1.3 crore tonne for the year 2019-20. It was 62.5 lakh tonnes in 2017-18, 51.7 lakh tonnes in 2016-17 and 29.6 lakh tonnes in 2015-16.

Also, Telangana accounted for about 63 per cent of Food Corporation of India’s (FCI) total paddy procurement across the country till date, a record of sorts for the farmers of the State. With increase in land under irrigation, the rice production is going to increase further in the coming years, said industry body FTCCI in a report.

More than 60 lakh acres of additional land was brought under irrigation due to completion of many major and minor irrigation projects such as Kaleshwaram project, Devadula Project and revival of tanks under Mission Kakatiya.

Availability of water coupled with 24×7 free power supply to farmers contributed to substantial improvement in productivity and production of food grains and pulses, said FTCCI report titled as ‘Rice exports from



Telangana: Opportunities and way forward,’ which was presented to Telangana State Planning Board Vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar.

Telangana, which grows rice in about 14.19 lakh hectare, has seen its share to the national rice production improve considerably from 2.84% in 2015-16 to 5.54% by 2017-18, doubling the production levels in three years. Rice production at the national level is pegged at 117.47 million tonnes in 2019-20.

However, Telangana’s share in total rice exports of non-basmati from India did not improve much. Telangana, which exported 10,425 tonnes during 2019-20, accounted for just 0.21 per cent of the total exports of 5.08 million tonnes at national level. 

Andhra Pradesh, during the same time, exported 16.9 lakh tonnes (which is 33.6 per cent of the total India exports). Telangana recorded considerable growth in exports in the first half of 2020-21 along with overall exports from India due to Covid-19 crisis and due to drastic fall in exports from Thailand and Vietnam.