Acreage of hybrid rice seen doubling

The area under cultivation of hybrid rice in the country has more than doubled from less than a million hectare in the last khariff season to about 2 to 4 million hectare this season.

"Of about 33 million hectare sown under rice this khariff season so far, about 2 to 4 million hectare is under hybrid seeds," said Union Agriculture Secretary Radha Singh.

In China, the area under rice cultivation has significantly reduced from about 34 million hectare last year to 22 million hectare this year, owing to the usage of hybrid seeds and consequent rise in yield, said Singh.

However, she did not comment on the increase on yield that such hybrid seeds would bring in India. The hybrid seeds for rice are being used primarily in Uttar Pradesh and partly in Bihar and West Bengal.

The most obvious advantage of using hybrid rice seeds is its high yield.

Across the world, usage of hybrid rice has increased the yield by an average 20 per cent.

As of August end, about 33.1 million hectare has been sown under rice as against 32.6 million hectare in the same period last year.

Rice is primarily a khariff crop in India with almost 85 per cent of it getting produced in the khariff season.

Last year, India produced about 78 million tonne of rice in the khariff season of the total 91 million tonne produced.