Amritsar: Farmers’ union demand cut in basmati minimum export price

Amritsar, August 26

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Perturbed over the decrease in the price of basmati this season, farmers have requested the Central Government to decrease the minimum export price of the commodity to make it more competitive in the international market resulting in increasing its demand.

In a meeting of the farmers at Guru Ka Bagh, farmers led by Kirti Kisan Union stated that the government has fixed a minimum export price of dollar 950 per tonne. They stated that prices of basmati rice in the international market are ranging between dollar 750 and 800 per tonne.

As an impact of the drop in prices at international level, the farmers are struggling with a significant drop In crop prices, from over Rs 3,500 per quintal last year to Rs 2,500 per quintal this year.

The farmers alleged that government’s export policies have led to the decline in prices. They argued that the current MEP of dollar 950 per tonne is too high, making Indian basmati rice uncompetitive in the global market.

“We are facing a huge loss due to the government’s flawed policies,” said Jatinder Singh Chinna of the Kirti Kisan Union. We urge the government to reduce the MEP and ensure fair prices for our produce, he said.

The union added that lowering the MEP would create local basmati more competitive in the international market which would help increase its demand and hence prices.

Sukhdev Singh Sainsra of the union said area under basmati had increased significantly this year as the government had encouraged them to cultivate basmati instead of other paddy varieties. Moreover, the better prices last year too had encouraged the farmers to go for basmati cultivation.

However, their hopes of getting a good return has been shattered by the early trends of basmati. So far, the harvesting of only early sown varieties of basmati has started but looking at the low prices, the farmers are worried.