Chattisgarh registers 50% growth of rice production

Chhattisgarh’s rice production has registered a whopping 50 per cent growth in the kharif season 2010-11 as compared to the output recorded during the corresponding period in 2009-10.

The state, which is also known as ‘rice bowl of India’, had produced 6.15 million tonnes (MT) of rice in kharif season 2010-11. During the corresponding period in the kharif 2009-10, 4.11 MT of rice was produced in the state.

“Based on the outstanding performance in the rice (paddy) production, Chhattisgarh had been selected for the ‘Best Performing State' award in rice production during 2010-11 in the category of individual crop,” deputy director (agriculture) R K Chandravanshi told Business Standard. The state government had given presentation for the award last month.

 

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will present the award to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh in New Delhi on July 16.

Officials with state’s revenue department said that for the kharif 2010-11, the acreage was increased from previous year’s 3.48 million hectares to 3.51 million hectares. The total paddy production in the state in kharif 2010-11 was 9.23 million tonnes.

The officials with the agriculture department said that good monsoon coupled with modern technology had helped in getting record yield of rice in the last kharif season. The paddy productivity was more than 1640 kilogram per hectare in the state.

The state procured 6.34 million tonnes of paddy in 2010-11 as compared to 6.24 million tonnes procured in the previous year. Of the total procurement, 5.11 million tonnes was procured through the government agencies while 1.23 million tonnes was procured through the traders.

For the kharif 2011, the state government had set a target to produce 6.05 million tonnes of paddy with a productivity of 1700 kilogram per hectare.