Agriculture of Rice in India

Hello friends,
I have been reading up on agriculture of rice in India and I am very interested in getting a better understanding of how things work for our farmer friends. My aim is to understanding how things work for you and be able to identify how you can get better returns at the various stages in your agricultural practice. For that, I have the following questions. Please feel free to answer only some questions. Your participation would be very helpful. You can refer to me as Subbu :slight_smile:

How do you as a farmer, deal with the following:
§ Do you process the rice that you grow or do you sell it to the rice processing units ?
§ if above, i have some questions about Intermediaries/agents/Rice processing units
□ How do you know which intermediary/rice processing units to approach?
□ Do you prefer approaching agents or directly working with rice processing units ? Why ?
□ If you prefer working with an intermediary ? How do you choose your intermediary ? What factors do you consider when choosing an intermediary ? How do you research about the various intermediaries in the market ?
□ If you prefer working directly with a rice processing unit(RPU)? How do you choose your RPU? What factors do you consider when choosing an RPU? How do you research about the various RPUs in the market ?
□ How do you communicate with them ? Is it a face to face communication or do you use a telephone ? What medium do you prefer ?
□ Do they come and inspect your farm and do some background check before agreeing to buy from you ?
□ Do you sign an agreement with them for selling only to them for a period of time ? Can you keep changing agents for every produce ?
□ Can you supply to different rice processing units or are you tied into one ? If so, for how long and on what basis ? Do they give you any guarantee of buying it only from you ?
□ How do you build trust with your agents/intermediaries ?
□ Do you get any kind of help from the intermediaries while growing the crop ? Do the Rice processing units help you grow the crop ? Do they expect/set any standards ?
□ Do you care if the agents/intermediaries are from the same place you are from ?
□ Do you work with agents/intermediaries/rice processing units from a different taluk/district/state ? If so, how do you get to know about them ? How do you communicate with them ? What factors would you consider to work with them ?
□ If not, Are you open to working with agents/Rice processing units in other districts or states ?

	§ Pricing:
		□ How do you know what price to sell at ? Do you bargain with the people ? Who sets the price ? Do you agree to whatever the agents say at face value ?
		□ Are you aware of the prices in the various markets ? 
		□ If above, how do you know about the prices in the market ? 
		□ Would you like to know about the prices in the market ? If not, Why ?
		□ Do you care about the prices in other districts and states ? If not, Why ?
		□ Will you be able to bargain with the intermediary if you know the price in the other markets ? 
		□ How often does the price change ? Does the price change every day or every hour ? How do you keep track of this change in prices ? 
		□ Do you work with other farmers to identify what price to sell at ? Do you trust the other farmers ? Would you share your price with other farmers ? 
		□ How soon do they pay you ? 
		□ How much commission do they get ? 
		
	§ Demand:
		□ Are you aware about the demand for rice in the market ? 
		□ If above, how do you know about the demand in the market ? 
		□ Would you like to get to know about the demand in the market ? If not, why ? 
		□ Do you care about the demand for rice in another state ? Would you be open to transporting to other states ? 
		□ Do you take whatever the agents say at face value ? 
		□ Do you care about the demand in the market ? 
		□ Do you work with other farmers to identify what demand in the market ? Would you share this information with other farmers ?
		
	§ Transportation 
		□ How do you deal with transportation of the rice from your farm ?
		□ Would you be willing to put your produce together with your neighbors produce and transport it together for a cheaper cost ?
		□ Will you be willing to transport your produce to another state or region ?

Hi Mr Subbu,

My total land holding is about two thirds of an acre and I practice natural farming methods.
I grow rice for my own consumption and I grow only native varieties.
Last year I had Seeraga Samba and Ghandhakasaali varieties. The seeraga samba is a super fine variety and the paddy is smaller than the superfine rice variety available in the market. I found it difficult to find a suitable rice mill to process such a superfine variety of rice. Finally I managed to find a mill where I could just get off the husk - no polishing .
Normally I mill about a bag of paddy in about one to one and a half months. The milling percentage is about 62 %.
This year I have sowed Vellai Ponni rice which is due for harvest in March 2014.

Since I don’t farm on commercial lines , i may not be of much help to you. But depending on the brokers for marketing is like suicide. Don’t sell paddy. Wait for a couple of months after harvest and convert into rice ( raw / parboiled) and try to sell by contacting big rice mundies / whole salers.