HYBRID RICE CULTIVATION IN INDIA

Rice requirement will be 350 million tonnes more by 2020 than what we are producing today as demand for rice is 800 million tonnes by 2020 and this increase should be achieved sustainably with less land, labour, water and pesticldes. To meet the growing demand of rice in coming years, there has been a significant research effort in breaking yield plateauing through genetic approaches. In this endeavor, hybrid rice technology has been introduced in the recent years in India. Usually hybrid varieties released recently have been reported to have an extra grain yield advantage of 1-1.5 t/ha over the best promising local variety in a given location. For exploiting the full heterotic potential, it is indispensable to develop a suitable production package practices for hybrid rice cultivation.