Farmers upset as basmati prices dip after initial spike

Manmeet Singh Gill

Amritsar, October 23

The recent downward spiral in the prices of basmati variety of rice, an export commodity, has left the cultivators dejected as they are at the sole mercy of private traders who purchase the produce.

The price of basmati touched a low of Rs 2,000 per quintal this week, forcing the cultivators to regret their decision to cultivate the crop instead of parmal varieties which have an assured price in the form of Minimum Support Price (MSP) given by the government.

Most farmers who sold their basmati crop this week reported that they could only get a price of Rs 2,400-Rs 2,600 per quintal. On the other hand, the parmal varieties are getting an MSP of Rs 2,200 per quintal.

The yield of basmati is much less than parmal and if they are fetching almost the same price, the basmati cultivators are certainly at a loss. During the early days of harvesting, basmati had been getting a price of Rs 3,400-Rs 3,600 per quintal.

Earlier this year, as the state government ran an extensive campaign to promote the cultivation of basmati in the district, citing its export value, the cultivators were enthusiastic and the area under the crop touched a record high of 1.42 lakh hectares. Consequently, the area under parmal varieties got reduced to only 38,000 hectares.

“Farmers have no say in deciding the prices of agricultural produce. The price is whatever the traders decide. If all traders of the district or even a grain market form a sort of syndicate, then they are able to control the price as the government has no checks,” said Gurbhej Singh, a farmer.

Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala of Jamhoori Kisan Sabha said, “It is easier to organise a few hundred buyers who export basmati. Now it seems that they have constituted a sort of syndicate as they know that they are the only buyers. In such circumstances, farmers cannot get a fair price unless the government regulates the business.” He said that this was the reason why farmers demand MSP for all crops and a legal guarantee to protect the same.