A study on the varietal preference of rice in north coastal zone of Andhra Pradesh

Introduction

Rice is the staple food crop cultivated in India, with an area of approximately 44 million hectares. In the state of Andhra Pradesh, rice is cultivated in 25.5 lakh hectares with an average production of 131 lakh tonnes and a productivity of 5.13 tonnes per hectare. Paddy is the major food crop in north coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh. There are several different varieties of paddy are available in north coastal zone, however farmers are preferring only few varieties such as RGL-2537, Samba mashuri and swarna, for their cultivation. In a similar way the millers and consumers are also preferring few varieties for milling and consumption respectively. In this connection, it is important to study the varietal preference of farmers, millers and consumers, thereby feedback should be given to the researchers to refine the research programme. Paddy is the major crop of north coastal zone. Farmers are depending on paddy for major agricultural income. Farmers are adopting varieties based on their location preference but consumers and millers are having different priorities with regard to varieties. The study is under taken to bring coordination between farmers, millers and consumers with regard to adoption of paddy varieties.

Materials and Methods

The study was conducted across Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli districts. Data were collected from seed distribution records (2017-2022), procurement statistics (2023-25), and surveys conducted with 60 farmers, 30 millers, and 30 consumers. Factors influencing preferences were ranked using mean score methods and frequency analysis. As part of the study the basic data of North coastal zone with regard to paddy area, Production and productivity deviations over fast 10 years i.e., from 2011-12 to 2021-22. The data interprets that, the Paddy area decreased from 2,15,000 to 2,05,000ha i.e. 4.65% decline in area in Srikakulam district, The Paddy area increased from1,29,000 ha to 1,32,000ha i.e. there is 2.32% increase in area in case of Vizianagaram district and The paddy area reduced from 1,09,000ha to 1,02,000ha i.e., there is 6.42% decline in area with regard to area in Visakhapatnam district.

As part of the basic data of North coastal zone, The data interprets that the Paddy area decreased from 1,60,000 ha to 1,49,000 ha i.e6.87% decline in area in Srikakulam district, The Paddy area is maintained at 94,000ha without any deviation from past 2 years in Vizianagaram district and The paddy area reduced from 59,000ha to 46,000ha i.e., there is 22% decline in area with regard to area in Anakapalli district. The distribution data show that RGL 2537 (Srikakulam Sannalu) was the most widely adopted variety, followed by Samba Mashuri (BPT-5204) and Sona Mashuri (BPT-3291). Farmers in Anakapalli strongly prefer RGL 2537 due to its high yield and market demand, while traditional fine-grain varieties like Samba Mashuri retain significant popularity The factors influencing the varietal preference by the millers of North Coastal zone are less broken rice, high head rice recovery and high milling recovery in the order of priority. The order of preference of varieties by millers of North Coastal Zone are Swarna, samba mashuri, sridruthi and Srikakulam sannalu. The factors influencing the consumers in purchasing of rice are fine grain, white colored rice and aged rice in the order of priority and varieties preferred by consumers in purchase of rice are samba mashuri, Srikakulam sannalu and Swarna etc.

Conclusion

The study reveals that varietal preferences vary among farmers, millers, and consumers in the north coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh. Farmers prioritize yield and marketability, millers focus on processing qualities, and consumers prefer grain quality and cooking attributes. RGL-2537, Swarna, and Samba Mashuri emerge as dominant varieties, though with different weightage across stakeholders. Bridging these preference gaps is essential for enhancing production efficiency, value chain integration, and consumer satisfaction.

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