Chhattisgarh, one of the largest contributors of rice in India, has set a target to produce 8.2 million tonnes (mt) of paddy in the upcoming kharif season this year 2% higher than year ago. Chhattisgarh, known as the rice bowl of the country, had produced 8.04 million tonne of rice and was among the top three rice-contributing states last year. Inspite of the increased target, paddy acreage in the state has come down by 3 per cent in the upcoming Kharif season in 2017. Paddy would be sown in 3.65 million hectares of land, down from 3.37 million hectares in the year-ago period.