Why is the price of rice rising across the country? | Explained

The story so far: The price of rice, the staple of most Indian meals, especially in South India, has gone up suddenly. A 26-kilogram bag of fine rice that used to retail at ₹1,800 per bag, or about ₹70 per kilogram, is now retailing for ₹2,150 per bag, or about ₹82 per kg.

Nationally, the area under rice cultivation for Kharif (monsoon crop) has dropped from 449.18 lakh hectares in 2025-26 to 433.62 lakh hectares. A drop of 3.46% in area sown, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The drop in area under rice cultivation is linked to the forecast of a ‘below normal monsoon’ by the India Meteorological Department in May this year that factored in the likely impact of ‘El Niño’. The periodic climate pattern of warming of the Pacific Ocean that affects trade winds and the Indian monsoon. The central government issued an advisory to States asking farmers to shift to short-duration crops or less-water-intensive crops like pulses and millets. In June, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, after a meeting with State government officials, research bodies, IMD and others, said: “Changing crop strategy in rain-fed areas has become the need of the hour”.