How India Overtook China to Become the World’s Largest Rice Producer

India has overtaken China to become the world’s largest rice producer, marking a historic shift in global agriculture and ending decades of Chinese dominance in rice output.

According to the latest December 2025 assessment by the United States Department of Agriculture, India’s rice production has reached 152 million metric tonnes, surpassing China’s output of 146 million metric tonnes. With this, India now accounts for over 28% of global rice production, emerging as the top producer worldwide.

Rice has been cultivated in India since ancient times, and the country is home to nearly 60,000 of the world’s estimated 1.23 lakh rice varieties, highlighting its unmatched genetic diversity. However, despite this legacy, India had long remained behind China in total production — a gap that has been bridged for the first time in 2025.

Experts attribute India’s rise to decades of sustained agricultural innovation, farmer-led adoption of improved varieties and the long-term impact of the Green Revolution. Rice exports have also emerged as a strategic economic and diplomatic tool, with Indian rice now reaching over 170 countries worldwide.

In 2024–25, India exported agricultural products worth over ₹4.5 lakh crore, with rice accounting for nearly a quarter of total exports. Basmati and non-basmati rice exports together earned more than ₹1.05 lakh crore in foreign exchange, reinforcing rice’s central role in India’s farm economy.

A key but lesser-known contributor to India’s rice transformation was Taiwan. In the 1960s, when India faced acute food shortages, traditional long-stem rice varieties failed to withstand fertiliser-intensive farming. Taiwan’s semi-dwarf rice variety Taichung Native-1 helped solve this problem, significantly boosting yields and laying the foundation for modern rice cultivation in India.

This momentum was further accelerated by the introduction of IR-8 by the International Rice Research Institute in 1968. Known as “Miracle Rice,” IR-8 revolutionised productivity and inspired Indian scientists to develop indigenous high-yielding varieties. One such breakthrough was ‘Jaya’, India’s first domestically bred dwarf rice variety, which sharply increased output.

India’s leadership is also evident in premium rice segments. The country is the world’s largest producer and exporter of basmati rice, with exports crossing ₹50,000 crore. Indian varieties dominate global markets, including Pusa Basmati-1121, which holds the record for the world’s longest rice grain. Several Indian rice varieties also carry Geographical Indication status.

Despite these gains, challenges remain. While India cultivates more land under rice than China, its per-hectare yields are still lower. Estimates suggest India’s average yield may reach around 4,390 kg per hectare in 2025–26, well below China’s average of over 7,000 kg per hectare.

Closing this yield gap while managing rising water stress will determine whether India’s surge in rice production becomes a sustainable long-term advantage.