Basmati rice usually fetches higher returns, requires less water, and is a short-duration variety of rice, it can be sown late — these factors attract farmers in Punjab and neighboring Haryana to sow the premium rice variety
As the groundwater crisis looms large in the key grain-producing State of Punjab, the Punjab Rice Millers and Exporters Association has written to the Finance Commission to recommend the Central government push the cultivation of aromatic basmati rice instead of the more water-intensive paddy. A major share of the Union government’s devolution towards the diversification of agriculture in Punjab should be diverted to the planting of the aromatic, long-grain Basmati rice, which consumes far less water than water-guzzling paddy, and has tremendous export potential, the association has urged.
In its letter to Chairperson of the Finance Commission Arvind Panagariya, the Millers and Exporters Association pointed out that saving natural resources and improving farmers’ income should be the aim of policy perspectives arising from the enhanced allocation of funds.
A team from the 16th Finance Commission recently visited Punjab and held meetings with various stakeholders.
Ashok Sethi, the association’s director, said basmati rice is Punjab’s heritage produce, cultivated in the riverine belt of the State, which has ideal soil, climate, and environmental conditions. The aromatic rice is a farmers’ mainstay that gives handsome returns, and the Central government should therefore take steps to promote its cultivation.
“Punjab grows basmati rice on about 15 lakh acres of land annually. However, the Government of India keeps on tinkering with the export policy of basmati, putting the basmati industry and growers in a difficult situation. Since basmati rice is not part of the Public Distribution System in the country, it is therefore beyond understanding as to why the Central Government should be placing unnecessary conditions in the smooth export of this aromatic rice. The Central government should make long-term policy with proper global market perspective for the smooth export of basmati rice,” Mr. Sethi said.
Basmati rice usually fetches higher returns, requires less water, and is a short-duration variety of rice, it can be sown late — these factors attract farmers in Punjab and neighboring Haryana to sow the premium rice variety. Both States account for over 70% of the country’s output of the aromatic, long-grain staple.
In Punjab, the water table has fallen to 600-700 feet, and 70% of the State’s blocks are in dark zones (areas in which groundwater depletion exceeds the rate of recharging). “More than 78% of our 150 blocks are in the extreme dark zone due to depletion of groundwater table,” Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann recently stated.
Source: The Hindu
