Rice (Oryza sativa) is a plant of the grass family which feeds more than half of the world's human population. Rice cultivation is well suited to poor countries because - though it is very labor-intensive to cultivate - with plenty of water for irrigation it can be grown practically anywhere, even on steep hillsides. Rice is the world's third largest crop, behind maize and wheat.

VARIETIES OF RICE
There are about 40,000 varieties of rice. Some types of Specialty Rice are:

Basmati Rice Kalijira Rice Para Rice Rissotto Lousiana Rice Red Rice Black Rice

Carolina Rice Jasmine Rice Arboria Rice Della Rice Texamati Wehani

Indian Rice Varieties Include

long-grained Basmati (grown in the North) medium-grained Patna short-grained Masoori

India in World Rice Industry
India produces about 80 million tonnes of rice annually.

Country	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Thailand	6,679	6,549	7,521	7,500	7,500
India	2,752	1,449	1,936	4,500	4,000
Vietnam	4,555	3,370	3,528	2,800	3,500
United States	2,644	2,847	2,541	2,950	2,950
China	2,708	2,951	1,847	1,500	2,250
Burma	57	159	670	1,500	1,500
Pakistan	1,838	2,026	2,417	1,250	800
Uruguay	681	642	806	650	650
Australia	667	617	618	400	500
Egypt	320	500	705	500	500
EU	348	308	275	275	325
Argentina	674	332	363	350	300
Guyana	252	167	175	150	175
Others	766	929	1,051	624	614
World Total	24,941	22,846	24,453	24,949	25,564

Units : Thousand metric tons

Factors Influencing Rice Markets

Enterprise capacities :Management capacity, organization of export trade, linkages and market presence Transport and storage :Transport conditions and cost are particularly sensitive factors for ACP exports, especially for the numerous land-locked and island countries. Organizing logistics is a core competency for most exporters from ACP countries. Government policies : Exchange rates, Fiscal policies, Export incentives and export promotion

All-India Area, Production And Yield Of Rice
State-Wise Area, Production And Yield Of Rice (1997-98)

State	Area (M.Hects)	% of Total Area	Production (M. Tons)	% of Total Production	Yield (Kgs/Hect)	% Coverage under Irrigation(1995-96)
Andhra Pradesh	3.5	8.1	8.51	10.3	2431	94.8
Assam	2.49	5.7	3.38	4.1	1359	33.8
Bihar	4.98	11.5	6.77	8.2	1362	40.2
Gujarat	0.67	1.5	1.04	1.3	1550	55.6
Haryana	0.91	2.1	2.55	3.1	2797	99.4
Jammu & Kashmir	0.28	0.6	0.55	0.7	1992	91.2
Karnataka	1.38	3.2	3.33	4	2419	66.8
Kerala	0.4	0.9	0.66	0.8	1636	49.9
Madhya Pradesh	5.4	12.4	4.49	5.5	831	23.7
Maharashtra	1.48	3.4	2.39	2.9	1621	26.3
Orissa	4.5	10.4	6.2	7.5	1380	35.5
Punjab	2.28	5.3	7.9	9.6	3465	99.1
Tamil nadu	2.36	5.4	7.05	8.6	2987	92
Uttar Pradesh	5.66	13	12.17	14.8	2148	62.3
West Bengal	5.9	13.6	13.24	16.1	2243	27.2
Others	1.23	2.8	2.07	2.5	.	.
All-India	43.42	100	82.3	100	1895	50.1

India Area, Production And Yield Of Rice

Year	Area (M.hects)	Production (M.tonnes)	Yield (kgs/hect)	% Coverage Irrigation
1949-50	30.52	23.54	771	32.3
1950-51	30.81	20.58	668	31.7
1951-52	29.83	21.3	714	31.7
1952-53	29.97	22.9	764	32.3
1953-54	31.29	28.21	902	33.6
1954-55	30.77	25.22	820	34.4
1955-56	31.52	27.56	874	34.9
1956-57	32.28	29.04	900	35.4
1957-58	32.3	25.53	790	36.4
1958-59	33.17	30.85	930	36.3
1959-60	33.82	31.68	937	35.8
1960-61	34.13	34.58	1013	36.8
1961-62	34.69	35.66	1028	37.5
1962-63	35.69	33.21	931	37.4
1963-64	35.81	37	1033	37.1
1964-65	36.46	39.31	1078	37.3
1965-66	35.47	30.59	862	36.5
1966-67	35.25	30.44	863	37.9
1967-68	36.44	37.61	1032	38.6
1968-69	36.97	39.76	1076	38.4
1969-70	37.68	40.43	1073	38.2
1970-71	37.59	42.22	1123	38.4
1971-72	37.76	43.07	1141	37.2
1972-73	36.69	39.24	1070	39.1
1973-74	38.29	44.05	1151	38.4
1974-75	37.89	39.58	1045	38.8
1975-76	39.48	48.74	1235	38.7
1976-77	38.51	41.92	1088	38.4
1977-78	40.28	52.67	1308	40.2
1978-79	40.48	53.77	1328	41.6
1979-80	39.42	42.33	1074	42.8
1980-81	40.15	53.63	1336	40.7
1981-82	40.71	53.25	1308	41.5
1982-83	38.26	47.12	1231	42
1983-84	41.24	60.1	1457	42.7
1984-85	41.16	58.34	1417	43.7
1985-86	41.14	63.83	1552	42.9
1986-87	41.17	60.56	1471	44.1
1987-88	38.81	56.86	1465	43.6
1988-89	41.73	70.49	1689	45.8
1989-90	42.17	73.57	1745	46.1
1990-91	42.69	74.29	1740	45.5
1991-92	42.65	74.68	1751	47.3
1992-93	41.78	72.86	1744	48
1993-94	42.54	80.3	1888	48.6
1994-95	42.81	81.81	1911	49.8
1995-96	42.84	76.98	1797	50.1
1996-97	43.43	81.74	1882	.
1997-98	43.42	82.3	1895	.

World Rice Supply and Disposition

Particulars (Million Tons)	1997-98	1998-99	1999-00	2000-01	2001-02	2001-00	1997-01
Opening Stock	115.6	122.5	128.8	142.92	137.58	-3.7	129.48
Production	386.8	394	408.4	395.63	395.71		396.11
Total Supply	502.4	516.5	537.2	538.55	533.29	-1	525.59
Total Usage	379.9	387.8	398.52	400.97	405.86	1.2	394.61
Closing Stock	122.5	128.8	142.92	137.58	127.44	-7.4	131.85
Stocks/Use %	32.2	33.2	35.9	34.3	31.4	-8.5	33.4
Trade	18.85	27.67	24.93	22.87	22.26	-2.7	23.32

Rice is the second largest produced cereal in the world. At the beginning of the 1990s, annual production was around 350 million tons. By the end of the century it had reached 410 million tons. World production totaled 395 million tons of milled rice in 2003. In 2002 it was 387 million tons.

Production is geographically concentrated in Western and Easter Asia with more than 90 percent of world output. China and India, which account for more than one-third of global population (52,3% over the 1999-2003 period), supply over half of the world's rice. Brazil is the most important non-Asian producer, followed by the United States. Italy ranks first in Europe.

World production has shown a significant and very steady growth, almost exclusively due to increasing production in Western and Eastern Asia.

International Trade
International rice trade is estimated between 25 and 27 million tons per year, which corresponds to only 5-6 percent of world production. It makes the international rice market one of the smallest in the world compared to other grain markets such as wheat (113 million tons) and corn (80 million tons).

Besides the traditional main exporters (Thailand, Vietnam, India and Pakistan), a relatively important but still limited part of rice traded worldwide comes from developed countries in Mediterranean Europe and the United States. There are two major forces behind this: new food habits in developed countries and new market niches in developing countries.

Export and Import of Rice and its Policies
The chart below denotes the importance of rice production and international trading in the major exporting and importing countries, as well as their trading policies.

Exporting countries	Share of Production (1998-2002)		Trading policies
	Paddy rice to world prod.	World imports
Thailand	4.2 %	26%	Subsidy to exportsDomestic price support through governmental purchases and buffer stocks or seasonal storage
Vietnam	5%	15%	Minimum export price fixed by the government Minimum domestic price
India	22%	10%	Production support. Purchases above the minimum price. Exports tax or incentive, depending on the rice volume available in domestic market.
United-States	1.5%	11%	Cf. US rice policy

Importing countries	Share of Production (1998-2002)		Customs Tariff, NPF, average 1999			Trading policies
	Paddy rice to world prod.	World imports
Indonesia	8.5%	13.5%	0	0	0
European Union	0.4%	3.5% (exchanges intra UE exclus) 7.7% (exchanges intra UE inclus)	7.7	N.A.	N.A.	Cf. scheme
Brazil	1.7%	3.4%	8.7	13	14
Bangladesh	3.4%	4.5%	0	0	0
Japan	2.2%	2%	0	0	0	Cf. Japan rice policy
China	32%	1%	114	114	114