Cultivation and Export of Basmati Rice from India

Basmati Rice verities give aroma pleasant flavour after cooking. Indian basmati rice is known for its extra-long superfine slender grains with a length to breadth ratio of more than 3.5. It is most preferred especially for Biryani and Pulao preparation on special occasion and is sold at high premium value in the national and international market. The important facts are:

• Basmati rice is India’s largest agricultural export commodity.
• In comparison to non-Basmati rice, Basmati rice cultivation consumes LESS water. This is the reason that some states such as Punjab encourage the farmers to grow more Basmati.

Cultivation and Export of Basmati Rice

The main Basmati producing areas are north and north western part of Indian sub-continent on both the sides of Indus valley. Thus, global supply of Basmati Rice is done by India (65%) and Pakistan (35%). In our country, the Basmati rice is grown in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. Punjab and Haryana account for about 70 per cent of total Basmati grown in India.

In Pakistan, most of the Basmati rice is grown in its Punjab state.  Further, a brand name Texmati is grown in United States, which is not basmati exactly but something claimed to be similar to that.

In 2014-15, the total area under Basmati cultivation was 2.1 million hectares, compared to 1.6 million hectares in 2013-14 — an increase of 31 per cent. Further, exports from India registered a nominal drop in 2014-15 compared to last year.  The latest Basmati figures are shown below:

From the above table, we note that in 2014-15, the export of Basmati Rice from India has decline despite of a higher production. The reason was that Iran is one of the largest importers of India’s Basmati Rice and several issues including economic sanctions on that country led to this fall.

Important Basmati Varieties

Important Indian Basmati Rice varieties include Basmati 386 , Basmati 217 , Ranbir Basmati , Karnal Local/ Taraori Basmati, Basmati 370, Type-3 (Dehradooni Basmati), Pusa Basmati-1, Pusa Basmati 1121, Punjab Basmati-1, Haryana Basmati- 1, Kasturi, Mahi Sugandha etc.