Introduction

Rice is a staple food in Asia, a continent with a population of about 4.8 billion, and a rural population of 2.23 billion. A large section of the Asian population is engaged in rice production, processing, and trade. In 2023, 89.6 per cent of the world’s rice was produced in 37 countries and territories of Asia (FAOSTAT 2025). While the rice economy plays a critical role in the regional economy, rice is also a “political” commodity and carries substantial social importance. This article attempts a comparative analysis of income from rice farming at the household, regional, and national levels, taking into account recent market, technology, and policy dynamics, and drawing implications for policy.

Methodology

This article conducted the analyses based on information available from online sources: FAOSTAT, the primary source of data on global, regional, and national rice production. This paper used formal countrywide surveys on costs and returns of paddy production in the Philippines (Philippine Statistics Authority [PSA] 2023), Japan (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan [MAFF] 2020), and Bangladesh (Khan 2020); and formal provincial-level surveys in Vietnam (Can Tho City 2023). Data on costs and returns of paddy production in other countries were obtained from publications available online. As rice is grown in vast areas across diverse conditions in the region, and data sources differ with respect to methods of collection, the analysis here aims to provide a comparative rather than an exact quantitative assessment.

Rice Production in Asia

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, in 2023, the total harvested area of rice in Asia was 143.6 million ha, constituting 87.6 per cent of the total harvested area of rice globally. While the total global acreage continues to increase, in the last 15 years, the regional acreage ranged between 140–144 million ha.

During the period 1961–2023, rice yield in Asia increased on average 1.6 per cent per year, which is slightly higher than the world average. In 2023, paddy yield was 4,992 kg per ha per crop. The yield varied based on many factors. The highest yield was reported in China, at 22.5 tonnes per ha with a hybrid variety (China Global Television Network 2020).

In 2023, total rice production in Asia was 716.8 million tonnes (paddy). This indicates an increase of 86.9 million tonnes in comparison to 2010. Of the 716.8 million tonnes, 90.4 per cent was produced by eight countries: India, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, and Philippines. India contributed 62.7 million tonnes or 72 per cent to the total.

However, in the last five years (2018–23), rice production decreased in some countries, including four major producer-countries, China, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Ensuring the sustainable development of the rice sector in Asia is not only vital for the region but also for global food security.

Economic Importance of Rice at the National Level

The rice sector occupies a large share in total agricultural value and the national GDPs of Asian countries. It also constitutes the core of most Asian national food systems: it provides raw materials for processing industries and services, generates numerous employment and income opportunities, especially for the poor, and as an internationally traded commodity, has a tremendous impact on national trade balances.

In Bangladesh, rice is the staple food of about 135 million people, provides nearly 48 per cent of rural employment, and forms half of the agricultural GDP and one-sixth of the national income (Bangladesh Rice Knowledge Bank 2025).

In Vietnam, in 2023, agriculture, fishery, and forestry contributed 11.96 per cent of the GDP (General Statistics Office of Vietnam [GSO] 2024). Despite growth in absolute value, the relative share of agriculture and rice in GDP is declining. In 2019, rice contributed about 16.3 per cent to agricultural GDP, but this share is now estimated to be below 15 per cent. In 2023, revenue from rice exports contributed 1.3 per cent to the total export revenues of the country.

As economies grow, relative share of the rice sector in national GDPs may decrease but its economic and social importance will always be significant.

At the Farm Level

Main Characteristics of Rice Farmers in Asia

In 2022, globally, there were about 144 million farm households involved in rice cultivation (Mishra et al. 2022). According to FAO (2022), about 130 million hectares of land was classified as land under rice in Asia, which was tended to by 200–300 million people, both landed and landless, on a full-time or part-time basis. It has been estimated that there are around 130 million rice farming households in Asia.

Most rice farmers are small holders. In India, 47.7 million hectares of land is under rice, supporting 67 million producer families (World Bank 2025), while average farm size is just 0.71 ha. In China, average farmland size is 0.65 ha, while 74 per cent households have less than 0.46 ha (Dong and Wang 2025). In Bangladesh, average farm size in 2018 was 0.81 ha (Sayeed and Yunus 2018). In Indonesia, in 2023, an average household cultivated 0.46 ha, and 77 per cent had less than 1 ha (Widyanto and Subanu 2023; Utami and Harianto 2021). In Vietnam, in 2016, average farm size was 0.49 ha, while 85 per cent had less than 0.5 ha (GSO 2018). Average size of a rice farm is greater in some countries: Thailand, at 2.6 ha (Pongsrihadulchai 2018); Myanmar, 1.2–1.6 ha (United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] 2023); Japan, 1.9–2.4 ha (Masuda 2017; Dong and Wang 2025); Philippines, 1.3 ha (Orge et al. 2022; Mesa 2025). In Vietnam, despite attempts to promote land consolidation, average farm size has increased only at a gradual pace.

A substantial proportion of rice farmers in the region are landless or tenants: in Myanmar, about 50 per cent (UNDP 2023); in Indonesia, about 35 per cent (Widyanto and Subanu 2023; Utami and Harianto 2021); in Thailand, about 40 per cent of rice farmers are landless or tenants (Pochanasomboon, Attavanich, and Kidsom et al. 2020); and in the Philippines, the figure is 36 per cent (Mesa 2025). Tenants are required to pay high rent to landowners.

Most rice farmers in Asia are poor (Mishra et al. 2022). In Vietnam, households most engaged in crop cultivation that also rely on staples have the highest rate of poverty (World Bank and Australian Aid 2022).

There is also an increasing trend of conversion of rice land into land for other crops and for non-farm purposes. In Japan and Vietnam, both land acreage and the labour force in rice farming have fallen in the last decade.

However, a review of the recent state of the rice sector across the continent showed encouraging trends:

• Sustainable development of the rice sector remained a high priority for all countries.
• Continuous improvement of rice technology was attempted, including the development of high yielding varieties, with better taste, nutrition quality, resilience; adoption of resilient rice farming techniques and more efficient machinery; application of digital technology, artificial intelligence (AI), drones; and use of more effective chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
• Infrastructure, especially for irrigation, improved.
• More efficient support services were made available.

Some alarming trends were also observed:

• The comparative advantage of rice farming reduced as countries become industrialised and urbanised, creating more attractive income generation opportunities. Not just labour and land, but other resources were also diverted away from the rice sector.
• Labour costs rose.
• Disruptions due to diseases, natural disasters, wars, and market interventions became frequent.
• Negative impact of climate change was experienced.
• Environmental degradation, especially soil degradation due to excessive use of chemicals, and high GHG emissions took place.

These trends affect farmers’ incomes differently across countries, because of multiple factors.

Farmers’ Incomes from Rice

Analysis of data¹ from different countries show that farmers’ income from rice farming varies greatly and was mostly below USD 1,000 per ha per crop. Considering the small land size, the average household income from rice for most Asian countries was moderate too, around USD 500–1,000 per year. In Vietnam, the average net income of farmers was USD 650–1,000 per ha per crop. Most farmers in Vietnam grow two rice crops on the same plot and receive high yields. However, due to the small land size, average annual net income from rice for a household was still mostly below USD 1,000. Japan was an exception to this – in 2020, an average Japanese rice farmer’s income was USD 6,570 per ha.

Analysis shows average costs of cultivation of paddy were USD 0.15–0.32 per kg. Total costs of irrigated/intensive rice production per hectare per crop in India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam were about the same. The difference in per unit costs was mostly due to difference in yields. Table 1 shows the cost structure of irrigated rice in the Philippines and Mekong delta of Vietnam. For Vietnamese farmers, inputs formed half of the total costs. Filipino farmers paid less for subsidised inputs but more for labour, services, and land rentals. In Vietnam, land was distributed to farmers for long-term use for free and small holders were exempted from agricultural land use tax. Even if rental value of own land were taken into account, Vietnamese farmers still secured a much higher net income than Filipino farmers.

In Japan, MAFF statistics (2020) showed that average costs of rice were five to six times higher than the regional average. The costs of building, vehicle, machinery, and implements constituted the largest share of costs (42.1 per cent), followed by the cost of inputs (34.5 per cent), rent, and other charges (14.3 per cent). However, due to high sale prices (see Figure 1), rice farmers in Japan still received the highest net income.

Figure 1 Global rice producer prices, 2000–23, in USD per tonne of paddy

Source: FAOSTAT (2025).

Policy Implications

Right Approach

The above analysis shows that despite the key role of rice, income from rice for most farmers in Asia remains low. The rice sector in Asia is also facing enormous challenges due to climate change and industrialisation and urbanisation. Different approaches can be taken to develop the rice sector in the region: land and other resources can be diverted from rice to other higher income-generating activities or more efforts can be made to boost rice farmers’ income. The first approach is risky for both net rice-importing and net rice-exporting countries as it concerns the livelihoods of a substantial portion of the population and could undermine food security, which is the foundation for social stability, especially for countries with large populations.

Rice net exporting countries on the other hand have some room to manoeuvre. However, allowing the rice sector to remain stagnant or to even shrink, by conversion of land under rice with the best soil quality, equipped with irrigation facilities, must be carefully considered. Non-farm activities can be limited to non-farm land or land least suitable for farming. The increasing negative impact of climate change on agriculture must be taken into consideration not just for the present but also for future generations.

Countries need industrialisation and urbanisation to be prosperous, but this should not come at the cost of the core food sector. All nations must continuously develop the rice sector to ensure national food security, improve the livelihood of rice farmers, making it more resilient. In this process, maintaining the incentive for farmers by further improving their income is the most important aspect.

One way in which many governments support farmers is giving subsidies (on seeds, chemical fertilizers, water, machinery, purchasing prices). Others do so by investing more in the development and transfer of technologies, irrigation, and other rural infrastructure and services. While some short-term subsidies may be necessary, the first approach may not be sustainable, and may, at times, constrain the achievement of more long-term targets. Subsidising the costs of chemical fertilizers or water contradicts efforts to increase their use efficiency and reduce emission from rice farming. Such policies are even more questionable for rice exporting countries.

The rice sector’s development should be mostly science-driven, farmer-centric, economically effective, equitable, and environment-friendly.

Application of Highly Effective New Rice Farming Technologies

To address goals regarding the development of the rice sector, win-win technologies can and must be developed. In Vietnam, as well as some other countries, farmers are overusing seeds, fertilizers, water, and pesticides. In 2023, the Government of Vietnam adopted the programme of “Sustainable Development of One Million ha High Quality, Low Emission Rice in Conjunction with Green Growth in the Mekong Delta by 2030” (CGIAR 2023). To support the programme, the International Rice Research Institute, in cooperation with Vietnamese national research centres, developed a technical package which was formally adopted and embedded into a manual of technical guidelines by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for implementation in the programme areas.

The manual includes three components of rice production: i) cultivation techniques; ii) harvest and post-harvest management; and iii) straw management. The main techniques introduced are: application of new high-yielding, high-quality rice varieties; synchronised mechanisation of land preparation with land levelling; alternate wetting and drying water management (AWD); mechanised seeding with deep placement of fertilizers; judicious crop need–based application of fertilizers; integrated pest management; in-time harvesting; application of modern technology for harvesting, drying, storage, transportation (to preserve energy and reduce losses); straw management following the principles of circular economy (to reduce burning and improve soil health, and increase farmer income) (Department of Crop Production 2024).

Reports from pilot demonstrations showed that the application of this technical package resulted in reducing the quantity of seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticide spray, water (via AWD), while increasing yield and farmer profit and reducing emissions, in comparison to current practices.

Development of Sustainable Irrigation and Other Rural Infrastructure and Services

Stable and productive rice farming requires irrigation. Irrigation plays an even bigger role as the effects of climate change become evident. A suitable irrigation system is also necessary to allow farmers to apply AWD. It requires not only more investment but also better management. Appropriate water policies should be applied to motivate farmers to invest in and protect irrigation systems, and use water economically.

Besides irrigation, roads, electric supply, and internet also need also to be upgraded. The use of drones, remote sensing, AI, and other digital technologies cannot progress without internet connectivity in rice fields.

Policy Reform

Enabling policy settings should allow farmers to reap maximum benefits, encouraging them and businesses to make long-term investments in the rice sector. Priority assistance should be provided to small-sized rice farming households.

Land policy is the prime agricultural policy – it is also always one of the most politically sensitive policies. It needs to address various critical issues at once: (i) ensuring landless farmers have fair and cheap access to land; (ii) ensuring commercial rice farmers have easy access to land; and (iii) protecting both the quantity and quality of land for rice.

There is an increasing need for land consolidation for larger-scale farming. This process should be accommodated. There is also a great demand for conversion of rice land for non-farm as well as other agricultural purposes. Uncontrolled conversion of rice land may endanger food security in Asian countries and in the region as well as globally.

A strong rice production promotion package is needed. An enabling financial system should be available to assist all participants in the rice value chain. Credit policy can have a noticeable impact on rice farmers’ income (Nhien et al. 2020; Ngọc and Kiệt 2019). A transparent trade policy regarding both inputs and rice is important to create the right incentives for stakeholders in the rice sector.

Conclusion and Discussion

Rice is an important commodity for Asia. The rice sector is a crucial part of national economies and forms the core of food systems in the region. Ensuring sufficient domestic rice supply is advised for most countries, especially populous ones. Rice farming and related activities are also important sources of employment and income for hundreds of millions of people. The development of the rice sector not only ensures food security but also improves farmers’ income and livelihood while protecting the environment and contributing to sustainable national development. However, the relative share of income from rice in most national economies and the income of most rice farmers is moderate and varies. Improvement of farmers’ income is necessary to maintain incentives for further development of the rice sector. An initiative-led approach, enabling market-oriented policy, advanced win-win resilient technologies, improved infrastructure, and support services would help stabilise and significantly increase farmers’ income, as well as national income from rice.