Grain Discolouration: An Emerging Threat to Rice Crop

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a widely grown cereal crop with the largest area under cultivation throughout the world. Asian countries dominate the global rice production and China tops the list producing 1,45,500 million tons followed by India (1,03,500 million tons). According to a projection of USDA, the rice area, yield and production will increase globally by 3.8, 7.2 and 11.3 respectively by 2025-26 (base year 2015-16). The highest rice productivity during 2015-16 was achieved by Japan (4.91 t/ha) followed by China (4.79 t/ha). Although India has the largest area under rice cultivation, productivity is quite low (2.4 t/ha). The demand for rice will grow in coming years at least to 2035 to feed the burgeoning population (FAO, 2017).