Low basmati prices spell doom for farmers

A crash in the prices of basmati has once again hit the much-touted diversification plan of the state.

Farmers will probably have to wait for mid-October to get a decent price for their harvest

A crash in the prices of basmati has once again hit the much-touted diversification plan of the state. In its bid to remove area from under water-guzzling paddy to basmati varieties which need much less water, the state government had motivated farmers to grow basmati under a special campaign, but now when the farmers are ready to harvest the crop and take it to the mandi, they are discouraged by the low prices.

What8217;s worse, the farmers will probably have to wait for at least mid-October to get a decent price for their harvest.

Notable here is that the area under basmati in Punjab has doubled to one lakh hectares as compared to last year, with the most commonly grown basmati varieties in Punjab being RH-10 and 1460.

Ravi Inder Singh, a farmer from Jainagar village near Patiala, says, 8220;I have ripe basmati crop standing on 85 acres. I had sown basmati as I wanted to shift from growing normal paddy. But now the price that I am getting for my crop is just Rs 1,100 per quintal or at the most Rs 1,300 per quintal, whereas this price should at least be around Rs 2,000 per quintal.8221; Ravi Inder is to begin harvesting his crop in the next couple of days and rues, 8220;The price of basmati is likely to pick up around mid-October, but then I do not have the space to store a harvest of 85 acres.8221;

Similarly, Kishan Mohinder Singh Saini, another basmati grower from Sunainheri village, says, 8220;There is no minimum support price for basmati and if the state government wants us farmers to grow paddy, then they should give

us some kind of safety net.

The traders are fleecing the farmers claiming that the export of basmati is still not open and they pick up basmati at throwaway prices.8221;

Story continues below this ad

Another basmati grower, Karmveer Singh Sidhu of Sheetanwali village, says,

8220;No company sells basmati below the rate of Rs 100 per kg. If we calculate this way, the price for each quintal comes to Rs 10,000, whereas farmers get just Rs 2,000 per quintal and that, too, if the trader is ready to part with some profit. The state government should look into the prices of basmati too and see that the farmers get their fair share of price or else we will have no option but go back to sowing traditional paddy. We pay a higher price for seed and our input costs for maintaining basmati are much higher, but our returns are comparatively poorer.8221;