It was a decision waiting to happen. After widespread protests by farmers across the country, especially in Punjab and Haryana, the Union Cabinet has decided to lift the ban on export of non-Basmati rice. The ban was imposed on October 9 this year, apparently to ensure “food security”. The traders can now export rice that is priced above $425 a tonne. “The lifting of ban is a welcome step,” says Gurinderpal Singh Dhillon, a 60-year-old farmer at Padhari Kalan village, who owns 22 acres of paddy fields. “But why was the ban imposed in the first place? The decision had left everyone wondering whether the country had been hit by a catastrophe,” he says. Rajiv Setia, President, Punjab Rice Millers Exporters Association (PRMEA), agrees. “We are happy that the ban has been lifted. The Pusa 1121 and Sharbati varieties are not Basmati and should not have been included in the category,” he says, referring to a last-minute notification by the Central government, changing the classification of Pusa 1121 to ‘non-Basmati’ rice. The announcement of ban had sent the price of Pusa 1121—an evolved hybrid variety developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and popular with Punjab and Haryana farmers—plumetting from Rs 2,040 per quintal to Rs 1,900 per quintal. “As for Sharbati, the traders and exporters who were promising us Rs 2,100 per quintal disappeared from the market after the ban. The price fell to Rs 1,400 and we were left to fend for ourselves,” says Dhillon.The paddy farmers in Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Tarn Taran received another jolt when the PRMEA asked its members to stop the purchase of rice and the commission agents refused to stock the grain in markets across the state. With procurement coming to a standstill, the farmers were in a soup. “The grain was rotting and purchasers had fled the market. The commission agents refused to keep the non-Basmati grain, saying there were no takers,” says Lakhwinder Singh of Bhojian village near Jhabhal in Tarn Taran district, adding that up to 40 per cent of area under rice cultivation in the state has the non-Basmati crop. “The crop was ready to harvest, but due to the ban the traders were not lifting the grain, and we were incurring huge losses,” he says. The fall in rates was so sudden that some farmers incurred losses up to Rs 12,000 per acre, said Rattan Singh Randhawa, Joint Secretary, Jamhoori Kissan Sabha. So they sent written complaints to government authorities. Harjit Singh Jheete of Kissan Sangrash Committee said that Punjab Government’s silence had also been worrisome. Amritsar is home to over a dozen big rice exports houses which market popular brands, including Pari Rice, Kohinoor and Lal Quilla. “We had procured these varieties in bulk and orders for exports were lying with us. By imposing the ban, the Government put us through a great deal of hardship,” says Setia, adding that the exporters who had taken loans would have been in the red if the ban had not been lifted.
