Agricultural Economist Ashok Gulati decodes India’s rise as leading rice exporter in world
At the Bharat International Rice Conference (BIRC), Agricultural Economist Ashok Gulati says, "We've had very good rains, relatively abundant, and in some places, even floods. Rice is a water guzzler, so it prospers there. Secondly, I think the incentive structure we have for different crops, in terms of pricing of inputs, especially fertiliser, water, and power, they in a way are skewed in favour of rice... So, rice, because of this incentive structure and because of good rainfall, and our irrigation ratio of the total crop area has been increasing... So, wherever there's irrigation and farmers have assured water supply, they want to grow rice. And in some states, the government does open procurement, like in Punjab, Haryana, Telangana, or Andhra Pradesh. This reduces the market risk for farmers and gives them good profits. And this increases production, increases stocks, and increases exports."
