Soaring land value affects basmati output

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Soaring land values in Punjab and Haryana are having a negative impact on basmati production as farmers are preferring to sell their land for real estate and industrial development in a bid to reap higher returns, a report by world’s leading basmati rice exporter has said.

“In the states of Punjab and Haryana, soaring land values are having a direct negative impact on basmati production. Many farmers are realising that they can make more money by selling their land for development in the short term than using it to grow traditional basmati in the long term,” UK-based Tilda Riceland said in a report.

It pointed out that the farmers who keep their land have greater expectations and so need even higher returns.On basmati prices, the report said wholesale rates of the rice have doubled in the last one year on account of increasing demand and shrinking supply.

“Concern over the availability of supplies has pushed up prices by 100% for deliveries of traditional basmati rice to the European Union,” Tilda said, adding that basmati prices are unlikely to slow down this year.

Tilda estimated the demand for rice to grow by 50% in the next two decades.

“Nearly half of the world’s 6.6 billion population depends on rice to survive. Its demand is expected to grow by 50% by 2030,” it said.

The report said demand for rice has never been higher, standing at 424 million tonne in 2007. And this, when rice stocks are at a 30-year low. According to the report, traditional basmati rice has a lower yield than other varieties, grows slowly and needs to be hand-tended. Its plants too are tall and so vulnerable to high winds. “As a result, more farmers of traditional basmati are shifting to other varieties, which are easier to grow and have higher yield,” the report said.