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UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS | WHILE OVERALL CROP COVERAGE HAS RISEN SINCE LAST YEAR, THAT OF RICE IS DOWN | 19TH JULY | INDIAN EXPRESS

/ July, 2022, UPSC Daily Current Affairs

SYLLABUS SECTION: GS III (AGRICULTURE)

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Despite total area sown under kharif crop coverage surpassed last year’s (time period: June to mid-July), rice acreage as of July 15, was 17.4% down from last year’s 155.53lh.

KEY DETAILS:

  • These were nearly three-and-a-half times the minimum level of stocks, to meet both “operational” (public distribution system) and “strategic reserve” (exigency) requirements for the quarter on July 1.

Cause of Worry:

  • It is India’s largest agricultural crop coverage (accounting for over 40% of the total food grain output), with the country also being the world’s biggest exporter (a record 21.21 mt valued at $9.66 billion got ship out during the fiscal end March 2022).
  • Unlike with wheat, the options for import in rice — due to any production shortfall — are limits, when India’s own share in the global trade of the cereal is more than 40%.
Why has acreage fallen?
  • The country has received 353.7 mm of rainfall during June 1 to July 17, 12.7% more than the “normal” historical average for this period.
  • Yet, a vast paddy-growing belt, from Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal, has had very little rains.
  • Cumulative rainfall has been 55.5% below the long period average in West UP, and 70%, 45.8%, 48.9% and 45.1% respectively for East UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and Gangetic West Bengal.
Methods of Rice Cultivation:

1)Transplantation method:

  • Seeds are first sown in the nursery and seedlings are transplant to main field once they leaves.

2) Drilling method:

  • It is exclusive to India. In this method, one person ploughs a hole in the land and the other person sows the seed. Ox is the most commonly use ‘person’ to plough the land.

3) Broadcast method:

  • It generally involves scattering of the seeds manually over a large area or in the entire field. Labour involved is very less and so is the precision. This method produces very less yield as compared to others.

4) Japanese method

  • It has been adopted for the high yielding variety of rice and those that need a high amount of fertilizers. Seeds are sown in nursery beds and then transplanted to the main field. It has shown tremendous success for the high yielding varieties.

5) System of Rice Intensification

  • It is a methodology for increasing the productivity of irrigated rice by changing the management of plants, soil, water and nutrients particularly by eliciting greater root growth.

SOURCE: INDIAN EXPRESS