RICE GROWING SEASONS AND REGIONS IN INDIA

Knowledge Series :

Rice is the main food item of Indian Diet. 

Rice (Paddy) sowing/transplanting and harvesting periods have a great variation in different parts of India due to variation in temperature, rainfall, soil type and other Agroclimatic conditions.

Three Main Seasons for Rice/Paddy which are classified according to season of harvesting of the crop.

Rice Seasons	Sowing Time	Harvesting Time	Interesting Facts
Autumn Rice	May to August	September to October	·      Known as Pre-Kharif rice. ·   The time of sowing differs among states due to variation in weather condition and rainfall pattern. ·  Autumn rice crop is known as 'Aus' in West Bengal, 'Ahu' in Assam, 'Beali' in Orissa, 'Bhadai' in Bihar, 'Virippu' in Kerala and 'Kuruvai/kar/ Sornavari' in Tamil Nadu.
Winter Rice [This is the main rice growing season in India]	June to July	November to December	·      Known as Kharif rice. ·     Winter rice is known as 'Aman' in West Bengal, 'Sali' in Assam, 'Sarrad' in Orissa, 'Agahani' in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, 'Sarava' in Andhra Pradesh, 'Mundakan' in Kerala and 'Samba/Thaladi' in Tamil Nadu. About 84% of the country's rice crop is grown in this season.
Summer Rice	November to February	March to June	·      Known as Rabi rice. ·      It is known as 'Boro' in Assam and West Bengal, 'Dalua'in Orissa, 'Dalwa' in Andhra Pradesh, 'Punja' in Kerala and 'Navarai' in Tamil Nadu and 'Garma' in Bihar.

Due to favorable temperature conditions in the eastern and southern regions of the country, two or three crops of rice are grown in a year.

In northern and western parts of the country, due to sufficient rainfall and fairly low winter temperature, only one crop of rice is grown during the month from May to November.

 RICE GROWING REGIONS   

Sl.No.	Rice Growing Regions	Facts
1	North-Eastern Region	·         Major States are Assam and North eastern states. ·         In Assam rice is grown in the basin of Brahmnaputra river. ·      North-eastern region receives very heavy rainfall and thus rice is grown under rain fed condition.
2	Eastern Region	·         Major States: Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. ·         Rice is grown in the basins of Ganga and Mahanadi rivers. ·       This region has the highest intensity of rice cultivation in the country as it receives heavy rainfall thus rice is grown under rain fed conditions.
3	Northern Region	·   Major States: Haryana, Punjab, Western Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. ·         Low winter temperature. ·         Single crop of rice from May-July to September-December is grown.
4	Western Region	·         Major States: Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. ·         Rice is grown under rain fed condition during June-August to October - December.
5	Southern Region	·         Major States: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. ·        Rice is mainly grown in deltaic tracts of Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery rivers and the non-deltaic rain fed area of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. ·         Rice is grown under irrigated condition in deltaic tracts.

Source of Data/ information: http://drd.dacnet.nic.in/  (Directorate of Rice Development, Patna)

Congratulation Mr. Modi for Launching “DD KISAN CHANNEL”: Adopt 16 Points to Success

On 26 May Indian Government launched a dedicated television channel exclusively for the Farmers which is expected to fulfil various needs of the farming community.

We all know that “Time is money”.  Technology is “means” to achieve it.  Anything can wait but not agriculture. So without any time lag, how to reach to the millions of farmers remained a big constraint for the concerned departments of Agriculture in India.

Technology is changing faster than anything in most sphere of life and has become a part and parcel of our daily life.  Farmers of India have also been benefited from these technological innovations in one way or other. The green revolution took place due to technological breakthrough in seed technology of wheat and rice. This became a foundation stone of India’s self-sufficiency in food grain production. Since then India has seen remarkable growth in several arenas of agriculture.

Now with the Launch of the “DD KISAN CHANNEL” it has become easier to go from "Lab to Land". The government of India deserve the appreciation for it.

Now following are the 16 suggestions for making this Channel a grand success:

1. Extensive Advertisement of the “Kisan Channel” : Because India is a big country and We all know that it is advertisement which makes a big role in the success or failure of a particular product/institution/policy. 
2. Regional importance: Agriculture is highly diversified into regions and climates. Thus to make it more relevant it is important to include more and more focus on regional crops and issues.
3. Language issues: Programmes in the regional languages are must because in several parts of the country Hindi or English is yet not spoken and understood. In the later years, the same programmes may be translated in to regional languages and may be broadcast.
4. Participation of Research Institutions: Extensive participation of scientists is must for the success of this channel.
5. Programmes like “World of Agriculture”: In it, the best practices adopted by various countries should be broadcasted.  
6. PRIME TIME: The communication should be TWO way. This means that burning issues/problems should be taken up and discussed and farmers’ representatives should be made an integral part of this debate programmes.
7. Extension of the government programmes and schemes: Best way to spread government programmes and policies to the end beneficiaries i.e. farmers.
8. Private sector participation: Due time-slot must be provided to the private sector industry relating to agriculture so that they can also show their products through this channel. This can become a good revenue model to the Government itself for sustaining the financial viability of the channel.
9. Agribusiness and Market information: Real time commodities market information must be spread through Kisan Channel to the farmers. Live Mandi Prices and Arrival information is must to get the real benefits of their produce sale. Information on other agribusiness and small scale industry in agriculture can be spread.
10. Futures Market Information and Knowledge: Through this channel, farmers can have direct and live access to the futures market information. The basic objective of the futures market are (a) price discovery (b) price dissemination and (c) risk management. These three objectives can be easily attained through broadcasting the futures market information on the DD Kisan Channel. The decision making of the farmers regarding various aspects of the commodities viz. sowing area increase/decrease, current and future prices of a particular commodity, appropriate time of sale of commodity, supply and demand scenario across the country and factors affecting the market trend can be enhanced many fold through programmes specially formed for this purpose.
11. Weather Watch: Regular Updates on Weather is must to include.
12. Information about the International Market Trade/Export/Import: The kisan channel on daily basis can provide the international market demand, supply, production and other various aspects of international trade.
13. Lessons from Leading Business Channels: The leading business channels like CNBC Awaz and Zee Business are a great source of information and knowledge regarding the financial sector of the country. Likewise, the live updates/ programmes on crops/commodities markets can give a direct financial benefits and literacy to the farmers.
14. Programmes for Financial Inclusion: Programmes on banking system and current facilities available to the farmers can be broadcasted so that the objective of the financial inclusion can be met.
15. Success Stories: Stories of the Farmers/entrepreneurs successful in the field of agriculture/trade should be highlighted.
16. Man Ki Baat: Let farmer also do “Talk of the Heart” through this channel. Give 5 minutes time and take interview of one farmer and let him say what he wants from the Indian Government.

The programmes must be of high quality. For that the reporters and programmes team must have a minimum Level of agriculture knowledge.

I hope that these points can help to improve the quality of the DD Kisan Channel and will serve the purpose for which it is launched.