The Tripura Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department has established a target to bring 25,200 hectares under hybrid rice cultivation using the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method during the 2025–26 Kharif season, as the state Agriculture Minister Ratan Lal Nath announced during a visit to the Simna Assembly Constituency. He participated in a symbolic paddy transplantation drive to boost the engagement of farmers and youth in agriculture. In 2024–25, the state experienced hybrid rice cultivation across 35,000 hectares, including 8,630 hectares during Kharif and 26,370 hectares in the Rabi season. As per Nath, paddy is grown on approximately 15 lakh kani of land annually, with Aman paddy covering 9.01 lakh kani, Boro paddy 3.94 lakh kani, and nearly 85,000 kani under jhum cultivation.
Furthermore, the minister emphasised that out of Tripura’s 58 blocks, 30 are primarily located in the South Tripura, Gomati, and Sepahijala districts. Not only this, but the districts have attained food self-sufficiency.
In addition, he explained that hybrid paddy using the SRI method is being emphasised to bridge the production gap. Seedlings must be transplanted within 20 days to ensure optimum yield, potentially increasing production by 80 kg per kani. Moreover, the minister demonstrated the data related to the growing demand for rice. In 2017–18, Tripura’s rice demand was at 8.26 lakh metric tonnes (MT) against a production of 7.70 lakh MT. The demand has increased to 8.77 lakh MT, with production at 8.30 lakh MT, leading to a deficit of around 47,000 MT in 2024–25.
The government is providing financial assistance and technical support to farmers who adopt hybrid varieties to address this issue. Besides this, Nath stated: “Our focus deals with enhancing yield as well as income for farmers. Lastly, he quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision and added that India will emerge as a global hub for food grain storage and export. No country in the world can beat India in rice exports. Agriculture is and will remain the backbone of the Indian economy.