Rice staple food – Rice cultivation in India is declining sharply – News

Rice is the staple food in Asia. Its production provides work and income for millions of Indians. But climate change is affecting the plant.

Rice crop yields in Asia are stagnating, including in India. Because of the drought alone, 13 percent of the rice harvest was lost last year. According to SRF South Asia correspondent Maren Peters, there are many reasons why rice production in India is coming under pressure.

“One reason for this is that there is less cultivable land due to increasing settlement. Where it is still possible to plant, the soil is often depleted by decades of pesticide and fertilizer use,” she says. In addition, rice is a very water-intensive plant. Due to the decades of irrigation of the fields, the groundwater level has dropped in many places, and water is becoming scarce.

Last year there was a heat wave with severe drought, and then in the autumn the monsoon was unusually long and heavy.

Another reason, probably the most important, is climate change. You saw that in India last year, for example. “First there was a heat wave with great drought, and later in the year, in autumn, the monsoon was unusually long and heavy.” Part of the rice harvest literally fell into the water.

What does the rice shortage mean for India?

India is by far the most important rice producer and exporter in the world. Rice is therefore economically very important. And India, like many Asian countries, is a big rice consumer.

Because there are so many poor people and farmers in India, the price of rice in India is very political. Among other things, the price of rice has risen because of the poor harvest. This, in turn, fueled food inflation.

In order to limit the price of rice and thus inflation, the government imposed an export ban on certain types of rice in September. This has calmed the situation somewhat, but caused irritation abroad because less rice was coming onto the world market and prices were pushed up as a result.

Victims and drivers of climate change

Greenhouse gases are produced when rice is grown because the rice is grown on irrigated fields. The plants are often in the water and in the mud of the soil, where methane-producing bacteria can proliferate. Methane is an extremely harmful greenhouse gas.

Before next year’s elections in India no one will touch the rice subsidies.

According to Peters, rice cultivation is responsible for up to 17 percent of global methane emissions. Even more greenhouse gases are released during transport. “But compared to the quantities that arise during cultivation, that’s almost negligible.”

Incentives despite disadvantages

The Indian government guarantees state purchase prices for rice and wheat. These are often above market prices. The government sets up large stocks and later distributes the rice to the poor.

Pesticides are also subsidized. This creates great incentives to continue growing rice on a large scale, despite the many well-known disadvantages. «Next year there are elections in India. Nobody will touch these subsidies before then.”