Farmers upbeat as basmati fetches higher price this year

CHANDIGARH: Despite a fall of at least 10% in the yield of aromatic basmati variety due to heavy rain at the maturing stage in September, the market is keeping the growers upbeat.

A quintal of newly harvested crop is fetching up to ₹4,250 (as per figures of Mandi board) and the prices are expected to go up with rise in demand from exporter countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia and those in Europe.

Agriculture department officials said the average rate this week was ₹3,600 per quintal which is nearly ₹1,000 higher than the previous year. The said rate is for grain with a moisture content of 21% (against permissible limit of 17%) and the grain with lesser moisture content will get still better price.

According to agriculture secretary KS Pannu, the basmati price will go up further when the harvest peaks in a fortnight. “So far, 13.5 lakh tonnes of basmati (1121 and 1509 varieties) have reached the mandis, which is 36% more than the corresponding week of previous year,” said Pannu, adding that total arrival is expected to touch 35-lakh tonne.

In July this year, subsequent to reports of European countries testing basmati rice imported from India for herbicide tricyclazole, Saudi Arabia, which is largest buyer of basmati from the country, also asked exporters to cut use of herbicide. Of the ₹12,000crore import order, 50% basmati goes from Punjab.

India exports 60% of basmati worldwide and Punjab is a major contributor.

Since basmati growers in Jammu and Kashmir doesn’t use tricyclazole, exporters last year bought 25,000 tonnes from farmers of the neighbouring state. As per figures from rice exporters’ association, India’s annual basmati export is worth ₹27,000 crore and 40% of the grain worth ₹10,000 crore comes from Punjab.

Basmati exporters and state farmers had panicked after Saudi Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) decided to follow stringent quality check norms for basmati coming from India. Some consignments of basmati were rejected after they were tested positive for residues of pesticides higher than the permissible limit.

The SFDA is now following European Union standards for traces of tricyclazole, which should not be more than 0.01mg in a kilogram of rice.

“We have got tests done from Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) laboratory and results are encouraging,” said Pannu, who spearheaded the Punjab government’s campaign against use of six categories of herbicide and pesticides, including tricyclazole. State agriculture department and rice exporters association jointly ran the campaign which covered each and every basmati-growing village.

The rice exporters’ association which is the key buyer from the state is upbeat. “The season has began on a good note and we expect a good season,” said Ashok Sethi, a director with the exporters’ association.