The government?s decision to accord the rice variety Pusa 1121 the status of ?basmati rice? has given a big boost to rice exporters, as it commands a high premium at markets in the Middle-East, especially Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
In the absence of a clear definition, the director general of foreign trade (DGFT) through a notification in September defined Pusa 1121 as a variety of non-basmati rice. It also fixed the minimum export price (MEP) for the Pusa variety of rice at $1,200 per tonne, while the MEP for basmati was at $1,000 per tonne. Due to a high demand for the Pusa 1121 rice, exporters were able to sell Pusa 1121 at overseas markets, even after a imposition of a ban on non-basmati rice in April, on the basis of a Punjab government?s notification which termed the quality of rice as ?basmati?.
?Pusa 1121 was selling in the international market as a high-quality premium rice for the last few months,? Asit Tripathy, chairman, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) told FE. He said that the notification would help exporters as it accorded a legal status to the rice variety.
However, industry sources said that rice exporters have been shipping Pusa 1121 as basmati rice for last three years and it has a loyal consumer base in the Gulf region. According to scientists, Pusa 1121 has all the qualities of basmati in terms of aroma, length, non-stickiness and softness.
In July the committee of secretaries had asked the agriculture ministry to examine the proposal to declare the variety as ?basmati rice? keeping in view availability and domestic prices. The All India Rice Exporters Association has been demanding that the agriculture ministry expedite the process.
Basmati rice exports from the country have been rising consistently since the past decade. Exports from India rose to Rs 3,548 crore during 2007-8 from Rs 2,482 crore achieved during the previous year.