Rice production in India could near 100 million tonne (MT) in the marketing year that starts in October, because of timely arrival of monsoon and use of hybrid seed varieties in northern parts of the country, traders and exporters said.
In 2007-08, the country is expected to produce around 96 MT of rice, which is also an all-time high production, according to the government?s third advanced estimates.
?Though the government hasn?t yet fixed a final MSP for paddy this year, but farmers have started sowing in the right earnest, because of timely monsoon rains over northern India,? said Vijay Sethia, of All India Rice Exporters Association.
He said, ?If all goes well rice production in the country could reach an all time high record of 97 to 99 MT in the coming season. Till now, paddy has been sown in 9.69 lakh heactar as against 10.37 lakh last year, according to government data.
Recently, the Union government announced an interim hike in the MSP of paddy to Rs 850 per quintal, which was lower than the MSP recommended by the commission of agriculture costs and prices.
The meteorological department has forecast a ?near-normal? monsoon in 2008. Sethia said high international prices of rice this year is also acting as a good incentive for farmers to grow more paddy.
?Though area under kharif rice might not see a quantum jump, but productivity will rise because of use of hybrid seeds, mainly in northern India,? Sethia added.
This year, farmers in Haryana have mostly sown hybrid paddy varieties such as PRH10, Rice6444, Rice6111, Rice6124, PHB71 and RH257, which give 20% more yield than conventional varieties.
?Sowing has started in full swing and production could rise by 10-15% from last year, but what we are seeing is a slight shift towards basmati rice by 10%,? said RS Sheshadri, director, Tilda Riceland Ltd, India?s largest basmati rice exporter said.
The country on an average produces 90 to 94 MT of rice every year of which bulk of the production takes place during the kharif season, sowing for which starts around June.
However, this year sowing operations have begun a bit early because of early onset of monsoon, mainly over key rice producing states of Punjab and Haryana.
India?s federal government had banned exports of non-basmati rice since March and imposed a hefty export tax on basmati rice allowing exports of only those basmati rice that are priced above $1,000 per tonne in the international markets.
The government lately has given some indication that it might relax the ban on non-basmati exports sometime around October-November after sowing operations are complete across the country.