A 26-kilogram bag of fine rice that used to retail at ₹1,800 per bag, or about ₹70 per kilogram, is now retailing for ₹2,150 per bag, or about ₹82 per kg. The story so far: The price of rice, the staple of most Indian meals, especially in South India, has gone up suddenly.
The drop in area under rice cultivation is linked to the forecast of a ‘below normal monsoon’ by the India Meteorological Department in May this year that factored in the likely impact of ‘El Niño’. The periodic climate pattern of warming of the Pacific Ocean that affects trade winds and the Indian monsoon. The central government issued an advisory to States asking farmers to shift to short-duration crops or less-water-intensive crops like pulses and millets. Poor rains this monsoon bleed farmers, power utilities Rice is a water-intensive crop that needs seasonal rain and more water at certain stages of the plant life.
Nationally, the area under rice cultivation for Kharif (monsoon crop) has dropped from 449.18 lakh hectares in 2025-26 to 433.62 lakh hectares. A drop of 3.46% in area sown, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The monsoon of 2026 has been patchy, with extended dry spells and less rain. The south-west monsoon ended in India at 12.6% to 13% below the long-period average.
In June, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, after a meeting with State government officials, research bodies, IMD and others, said: “Changing crop strategy in rain-fed areas has become the need of the hour”. Eighteen subdivisions, constituting 53% of the area, received normal rainfall, while 17 subdivisions, representing 42%, recorded deficient rainfall.”, according to the IMD: “Out of the 36 meteorological subdivisions.
The price is unlikely to go further up or go down substantially due to the weather forecast and warnings by agriculture officers,” says Venkataramana Chowdhury, general secretary of Miryalguda Rice Millers Association. “The price of rice has reached its peak. The arrivals in the wholesale market are yet to begin in a big way. If the arrivals are normal, the price will remain the same.
