WAYS TO GET MORE YIELDS FROM BASMATI VARIETIES

Generally Basmati varieties are more susceptible to get infected from diseases and insect pests of rice. Therefore it is essential to control these problems. The following measures may be adopted -

		To control blast disease, seed treatment should be done before sowing as per recommendation.
		Sowing of nursery beds should be done timely and as per recommendation.
		Timely transplanting should be done as per the recommendation to obtain quality Basmati Rice.
		Transplanting should be done with correct age of seedling to enable the crop for proper maturity and also for better retention of aroma.
		Recommended dose of fertilizers should be applied in order to avoid excessive vegetative growth, thereby protecting the crop from lodging.
		Timely and proper management should be adopted to control the diseases and insect/pests.
		Proper management of weeds in the field is also essential for effective control of diseases and insect/pests.
		To control bacterial blight disease, agronomic practices like proper management of water and nitrogenous fertilizers are essential.
		Harvesting and threshing should be done at proper time with great care to avoid any mixture and also for the better milling recovery.

The major rice producing nations have decreased the price to capture the international markets in order to dispose of their huge stocks to the maximum extent possible. Indian rice exporters are lagging behind in this regard as their prices were inelastic primarily due to relatively higher cost of production. Much of Basmati export prospects are being lost recently to other competing countries like Pakistan, etc. because of high domestic prices. Our prices are very high when compared with other competitors in the world. In Basmati, competition from Pakistan is very stiff as their prices are very low compared to ours and that is why more than 70% share of world market for Basmati has been captured by Pakistan. In fact, Indian Basmati rice is superior to Pakistani Basmati but only due to higher price, buyers are not ready to pay the big difference in prices.

If Indian Basmati Rice price is becomes equivalent or little more than Pakistan's prices, Indian Basmati Rice can get good  share of international market. Therefore it is time to think and to act in the direction of bringing down the cost of production of Basmati Rice. Only this can enable the exporters to compete in the international market and export more quantity of Basmati Rice.