To boost exports, state to tag basmati growers

Varinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 2

In its bid to boost quality Basmati exports to the European Union (EU), Western countries and Iraq by making the crop “pesticide free”, the Agriculture Department has initiated an ambitious project to register and tag each of over six lakh Basmati growers of Punjab.

A unique ID would be allotted to every farmer in a phased manner so as to ascertain the origin of pesticide laden Basmati from a particular area or region. The end objective of the mammoth exercise was to not only to enhance the Basmati quality but also to ensure better crop remuneration for the growers.

Basmati growers of the state had earned handsome profits from the non-MSP crop last year when they were able to sell their crop between Rs 3,000 and Rs 3,200 per quintal. The good remuneration had inspired more farmers to go for basmati and as a result, the area under the crop was expected to increase from 5.11 lakh hectares last year to around 7 lakh hectares. Basmati transplantation in Punjab will start from July 15.

Punjab accounted for 50-60 per cent share in basmati exports to the EU, Iraq and a number of Western countries. However, several lots of exports are increasingly being rejected by these countries.

The sole factor was that at times the pesticide residue had surpassed the permissible limit of .01 mg per kilogram.

To curb the phenomenon, the Punjab Rice Millers’ Export Association and the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) have joined hands to deal with the matter.

Ambitious project  

A unique ID would be allotted to every farmer in a phased manner so as to ascertain the origin of pesticide-laden basmati from a particular area or region. The main aim of the exercise is not only to enhance the quality of the rice but also to ensure better crop remuneration for growers.