Modern techniques and agronomic packages for hybrid rice cultivation in India

Rice is one of the most important cereal crops in the global food system providing energy, protein, and vitamins for about half of the world population. The population growth in most of the Asian countries, except China, continues to be around 2% per year. According to an estimate, for sustaining self-sufficiency, India must increase food production by at least 5 million tons and rice by 2 million tons every year. Hence it is very pertinent to critically consider whether the rice production can be further increased to keep pace with population growth. The use of high quality seeds and the introduction of hybrid rice cultivars make enough to feed the increasing population of the country. India is the second country next only to China to commercialize hybrid rice. Rice production practices is expected to continue to evolve to the changing challenges and needs of the times, when both the scientists and the rice growers will come up with innovations that seek to pursue rice selfsufficiency and global competitiveness. The dynamics of rice production and the factors that affect it are highly changeable. Crop yield mostly depends on crop management, agronomic practices and cultivation technology, the present review focuses on improved technology and proper crop management for hybrid rice cultivation in India.