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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Scent of success eludes basmati farmers in Punjab -Vikas Vasudeva

Scent of success eludes basmati farmers in Punjab -Vikas Vasudeva

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published Published on Oct 28, 2015   modified Modified on Oct 28, 2015
-The Hindu

Traders say that basmati prices were expected to remain low this year as there had been an oversupply of the commodity in the international markets.

Farmers of the aromatic, long-grain basmati rice in the grain bowl States of Punjab and Haryana are heading for yet another period of distress as the premium variety is fetching a price that is even below that of regular paddy.

Sitting visibly distressed with his trolley of basmati rice in the Ladwa market of Haryana, Pawan Kumar, a farmer who had sown the premium rice in his 5-acre plot of land, told The Hindu, “I was expecting that this season, after selling basmati, I’ll be able to bring down, if not completely pay my debts, but the prices have crashed so badly that it looks evident that I would suffer huge losses.”

Basmati rice usually fetches higher returns, requires less water, and being a short-duration variety, it can be sown late. These are the factors that attract farmers in Punjab and Haryana to sow this premium variety. The two States account for over 70 per cent of India’s output of basmati rice.

Farmers in the two States, who had sown the basmati variety PUSA 1509, were in a state of shock when they were offered a price of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 per quintal this season. The price is almost half of what the farmers received last year, which was around Rs 2,000-Rs 2,200 per quintal.

“The government asks us to grow basmati instead of regular paddy, because those paddy varieties are water guzzlers. But now, after growing basmati in our fields, we are not even able to cover our cost of inputs as prices are so low,” said an agitated Nirbhay Singh, a Punjab-based farmer.

Traders say that basmati prices were expected to remain low this year as there had been an oversupply of the commodity in the international markets. Besides, a reduction in demand from West Asian countries has also contributed to the lower prices.

Even the traditional basmati, which is yet to hit the markets later in November, is likely to fetch a lower price.

The president of the All India Rice Association, M.P. Jindal said, “Basmati prices are likely to remain under pressure due to the scenario in the international market.”

In Punjab, farmers are up in arms against the government and are demanding that a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 4,500-Rs 5,000 per quintal should be fixed for the commodity and traders should be asked to buy it at those rates.

Meanwhile, in Haryana, where the government has announced the purchase of basmati rice at Rs 1,450 per quintal (that is fixed for regular paddy varieties as well), farmers are complaining that traders are not purchasing their produce even at the MSP.

“Traders and millers are not buying our produce even at the MSP, stating that the recovery of grain from basmati is less than 60 per cent and it causes them loss,” said Sube Singh, a farmer from Ladwa village of Haryana.

The Hindu, 27 October, 2015, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/scent-of-success-eludes-basmati-farmers-in-punjab/article7806719.ece


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