Basmati glut raises a stink

Notably,the PUSA 1121 variety of basmati paddy or other traditional varieties do not fall in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) category. Therefore,farmers have to depend on commission agents and private traders to sell their produce.

According to farmers,if the government fails to export the crop or provide another market in the next few days,they will be forced to sell lakhs of tonnes of basmati to commission agents (Ahartiyas) — incurring huge losses — and also end up taking further loans to purchase seed for the coming wheat crop. For smaller farmers,the problem is even bigger,as they cannot afford not to sell the produce.

“While around 18 lakh tonne of Basmati is expected to be produced in the state this year,over nine lakh tonne has already reached grain markets. But there are hardly any takers,” said Agriculture Director Dr Balwinder Singh Sidhu. This time,farmers have had grown Basmati 1121 and other varieties on a large area and in the absence of any MSP and procurement policy,private traders are acting as per their interests,he added. The government should come to the rescue of basmati growers and more area be dedicated to the crop,said Sidhu.

Amritsar,Tarn Taran,Gurdaspur and Mukerian region leads the state in production of Basamti,which is being grown in around six lakhs hectares. This year,the yield has not been more than 12 to 14 quintal per acre,thus a farmer could not fetch more than Rs 20,000 to Rs 22,000 per acre. His expenditure,however,was around Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000. And those who had taken the land on lease have incurred huge debts — they need to pay Rs 20,000 to 25,000 rent per acre.

”The government encouraged farmers to grow basmati,as it consumes less water when compared to paddy. Moreover,it has good demand in countries like the US,Europe and Middle East,” said farmer Harjit Singh of Jhitan Kalan village in Amritsar. Harjit,who grows 1121 basmati on eight acres,had sold his produce at Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,600. “Due to a low wholesale price,growers cannot even meet the production cost,” he added.

“I took basmati paddy to the grain market but there was no procurement for days. Finally,I sold it to a private trader for Rs 1,500 per quintal,” said Satinder Singh,a farmer from Dasuya in Hoshiarpur district. “With the price of basmati crashing this year,I have no option but to take yet another loan from the commission agent to purchase seed for wheat crop,” said Nihal Singh,a farmer from Gurdaspur.

Similar situations are being faced faced by all farmers who left paddy production to grow basmati on the directions of the state government. Not only PUSA 1121 variety,but prices of traditional basmati varieties like 34 has also crashed to Rs 1,400 per quintal.

The exporters of basmati are too feeling the heat,as they are still left with previous year’s stocks — there has been less export orders from the Europe and the US,which had complained of “pesticide residue”. “We have exported one lakh tonne of basmati to the US in July but after that,we did not get any order,” said Ashok Sethi,Director of Punjab Rice Export Association.

According to reports,officials are also opposed to setting up more units to store rice,as this will lead to hoarding of the crop.