CHANDRASHEKAR, H.GURURAJ, N.2017-06-212017-06-212009-07-15Th-9436http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810022415Rice is the most premier staple and extensively cultivated food crop of the world. Rice is obtained by milling paddy. The practice of milling is as old as the cultivation of rice itself. The advent of modern rice mills brought a major change in the rice milling industry. Considering the importance of rice mills, the present study was under taken. Growth rates in area, production and productivity of rice was studied using the secondary data collected from indiastat.com from 1955-56 to 2006-07. Economics and problems related to processing were studied using the primary data collected from the 32 sample processors in the Tungabhadra command area of Karnataka. The growth in area under rice in Karnataka (0.62%) was on par with the growth in area (0.60%) at all India during the periods 1955-56 to 2006-07. In rice production India (2.53%) recorded slightly higher growth as compared to the Karnataka state (2.12%). The processing cost including raw material cost was found to be higher in large size rice mills (Rs.1119.96), compared to medium (Rs.1104.68) and small (Rs.1091.96) size rice mills. Of the total processing cost, variable cost formed the major component (94.29%) in all the categories of rice mills. The net returns per quintal of output obtained were higher in large size rice mills (Rs.387.44), compared to other categories of rice mills. In general irrespective of the size, rice mills attained break even at 10826.31 quintals. Further, business ratio analysis showed that large size rice mills earned higher profit than small and medium size rice mills. As per the opinion of the processors present levy system, Irregular power supply, high price of raw materials and scarcity of raw materials were the major problems faced by the processors in the study area.ennullThesis