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Factually speaking, India is the largest producer and exporter of Basmati rice and one of the largest exporters of rice, in general. Rice milling is perhaps the oldest and also the biggest agro-processing industry in the country. As it was last determined, India had a turnover of more than Rs. 25,000 cr/year and had the capacity to process approximately 85,000 tonnes of paddy each year, in turn, providing the staple food item to more than 60% of its population.

As such, the rice production cycle is divided into 3 distinct stages. These are pre-planting, growth and post-production. In one of our previous blogs, we thoroughly discussed the initial stage of rice production, i.e. the pre-planting process.

Generally, rice plants take about 3 to 6 months to grow from seedlings to reach maturity, mostly varying according to the environmental conditions and undergo 3 distinct growth phases, which are vegetative, reproductive and ripening. As such, rice varieties across the world are categorized into 2 groups based on their growth duration.

This post by Nextech Agri Solutions aims to provide practical knowledge necessary for small-scale farmers entering the rice production business. Beginning with the pre-planting activities, this post will cover the rice varieties to choose from, information on seed quality, crop calendar and land preparation.

Moisture content, as we define it, is the weight of water in rice or paddy expressed in percentage. In post-harvest handling, MC is stated on a wet basis (MCwb). Simply put, it’s percentage of water in a wet grain. The importance of measuring moisture content It’s imperative to determine accurate moisture content. This is done with a view to effectively manage and market paddy, for each purpose requires different moisture content.

I wish we had retained our full name, Khushi Ram and Behari Lal, instead of the acronym KRBL, since it speaks volumes about our legacy,’ reminisces Anil K Mittal. ‘After all, there’s a lot in a name.” The famous Shakespearean phrase, ‘what’s in a name?’ has little to no importance in Anil K Mittal’s life.

The Federal Government of Nigeria recently acquired 110 rice milling machines, which, if everything goes as per the set plans, would be installed in different parts of the country. The installation process is expected to continue until the end of July, and is aimed to boost the dwindling production of rice in the country.

Ignoring the barriers of the income and the living standards of the people living in any city, state or country, rice is affordable by the maximum chunk of the population. Besides this, rice is the staple food form in many states and many Asian countries. This is a clear indication that a huge amount of the diverse quantities of this food item is and will be traded to other countries, which do not have sufficient production.