Various Rice Cropping Patterns in India

With regard to the cropping patterns, India has varied climatic regions and rice is grown in different patterns as discussed below:

Rice-Rice-Rice Pattern

Under this pattern, three rice crops are grown in same field in one year. This is also called a cropping pattern of 300% intensity and is followed in areas with high rainfall and assured irrigation facilities. Examples of such pattern are the canal irrigated areas of Tamil Nadu.

Rice-Rice-Cereals / Pulses Pattern

In the areas where water is not adequate for taking a rice crop during summer, a cereal crop such as Ragi, Maize or Jowar or short duration pulses are cultivated once with two times rice in a year.

Rice-Groundnut Pattern

In states such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, groundnut is grown in summer after harvesting the rice.

Rice-Wheat / Rice-Wheat-Pulses Pattern

Rice wheat crop rotation pattern is a dominant cropping pattern in the Northern parts India, particularly Indo-gangetic fields. In some other states, pulses such as green-gram, cow pea are cultivated in an order.

Rice-Fish farming system

In Eastern parts of the country, the farmers are marginal, poor and they usually end up with low productivity of rice. Wherever the field has sufficient water retaining capacity for a long period and free from heavy flooding, the farmers have developed a rice-fish farming system. There is a huge potential in proper development of an integrated rice-fish farming which can generate additional net returns to the farmers along with higher crop and water productivity.