Call it export crunch or “non-existent demand”, basmati growers of Punjab are forced into distress sale. Sample this: PUSA-1121 variety of basmati has fetched Rs 1,750-1,800 per quintal. Last year, the price hovered around Rs 2,800 per quintal. The going rate for the less preferred 1509 variety is anywhere between Rs 1,250 and 1,400 a quintal against last year’s Rs 2,500 a quintal.
Farmers have decided not to opt for basmati cultivation next season. “Sowing basmati has cost us heavy. After suffering losses between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 per acre crop, we have decided not to repeat our mistake,” said Sher Singh, a farmer from Jalbera village of Fatehgarh Sahib.
The “basmati chaos” has reportedly been created by a considerable rise of supplies in the Indian market and an almost static export of the crop.
“Punjab has registered 40 per cent rise in arrival of basmati at 39 lakh metric tonne as compared to just 22 lakh metric tonne in 2013-14. But the annual Indian basmati export quotient has been static at 13 lakh metric tonne in the past three years. This has led to a huge pileup with exporters. We are advising farmers against cultivating basmati. They will fetch good price only if annual basmati arrival in the markets remain around 20 lakh metric tonne,” said Ravinder Singh Cheema, president of the Punjab Arhtiya Association and vice-chairman of the Punjab Mandi Board.
He said the only way out before the Punjab Government was to either support basmati growers with a Minimum Support Price or come up with export and milling policies. “The major problem is that basmati growers of Punjab solely depend on private players,” said Pushpinder Singh Khinda, a farmer based in Sultanpur Lodhi of Kapurthala district.
A major reason for an almost nil growth in the crop export was the reported lack of interest of North America, Europe and Australia due to high pesticide content in it. “Indian basmati demand is limited to gulf countries only,” Cheema said.
