Direct-seeded rice gains traction among farmers amid El Nino shadow on monsoon, Pg3

Key Highlights:

• Direct-seeded rice (DSR) is gaining traction among farmers as a water and labor-saving alternative to traditional methods.
• Traditional rice cultivation, involving puddling and transplantation, is highly water-intensive, requiring up to 30 irrigations per season.
• India became the world's largest rice producer (154 MMT in 2025-26) and exporter (24.5 MMT in 2025), dominating 40% of global trade.
• The Food Corporation of India (FCI) maintains rice stocks nearly five times the buffer norm, incurring significant carrying costs.
• Government policies like open-ended Minimum Support Price (MSP) procurement, free power, and highly subsidized urea contribute to overproduction and environmental concerns.
• The government's strategy to divert surplus rice for ethanol production has sparked a food-vs-fuel debate.

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Detailed Insights:

• Traditional puddling and transplantation methods are highly water-intensive, consuming over 200,000 liters per acre per irrigation.
• India distributes free rice to approximately 800 million people under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
• The Food Corporation of India (FCI) incurred a carrying cost of ₹10,712 crore in 2024-25 for its surplus rice stocks.
• FCI sells rice to ethanol plants at ₹23/kg, significantly below its economic cost of ₹44/kg, raising questions about subsidies.
• Open-ended Minimum Support Price (MSP) procurement, free power, and highly subsidized urea are key policy drivers of current rice production.
• States often offer bonuses or input subsidies, pushing paddy prices 20-40% above the central MSP.
• Free power in the rice belt encourages unsustainable groundwater extraction for flood irrigation.
• Frozen urea prices lead to its over-application, with only 35-40% of nitrogen absorbed by plants, causing environmental damage.
• Paddy cultivation is a significant source of methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
• Suggested reforms include limiting MSP procurement to 40% of production and ending state-level bonuses.
• Promoting Direct-seeded rice (DSR) and shifting from fertilizer subsidies to direct income support for farmers are also proposed.
• Reforming the Public Distribution System (PDS) to target only the most vulnerable and decontrolling fertilizer prices are critical steps.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Direct-seeded rice (DSR): A method of rice cultivation where seeds are directly sown into the field, bypassing nursery raising and transplantation.
• Puddling: A traditional practice of flooding and tilling rice fields to create a soft, impermeable soil layer for transplanting seedlings.
• Minimum Support Price (MSP): A guaranteed price set by the government to purchase crops from farmers, ensuring a minimum income.
• National Food Security Act (NFSA): A law providing subsidized food grains to a significant portion of India's population.
• Food Corporation of India (FCI): The central agency responsible for procurement, storage, and distribution of food grains for the PDS and maintaining buffer stocks.