Export Potential of Basmati Rice

Basmati Rice in India : Its Export Potential

EXPORT OF BASMATI RICE FROM INDIA

Nearly two third of Basmati Rice produced in India is exported. The leading aromatic fine quality rice in world trade, popularly known as Basmati Rice, fetches good export price in international market for its three distinct quality feature viz. pleasant aroma, super fine grains and extreme grain elongation. The main features of export quality Basmati rice are given in Table-4.

Table-4 : Characteristics of Export Quality Basmati

SL	Characteristics	Karnal Local	Pakaistani Basmati	Basmati 370	Type-3	Basmati 385	Basmati 386
1.	Grain Yield (t/ha)	2.31	2.12	2.23	2.19	2.68	2.65
2.	Plant Height (cm)	178	180	165	164	164	180
3.	Duration (Days)	155	155	145	145	134	155
4.	Tillers/Sq.m^-1	285	286	277	278	234	285
5.	Grain/Panicle^-1	138	139	140	142	210	141
6.	Lodging Score	9	9	9	9	7	9
7.	Amylose Content	23.46%	23.52%	23.48%	23.39%	23.52%	23.52%
8.	Aroma	Mild	Mild	Strong	Strong	Strong	Strong

Source : State Level Training Manual and the Directorate of Rice Research, Hyderabad.

The middle East Africa, CIS, America, France, Australia and Britain are the countries importing Basmati Rice from India. The export of Basmati and other varieties from India during 1993-99 is given in Table-5.

Table-5 : Export of Basmati Rice

SL	Year	Export of Basmati Rice
SL	Year	Quantity ('000 tonnes)	Value (Rs. in Crores)
1.	1993-1994	527.23	1,061.26
2.	1994-1995	442.13	865.32
3.	1995-1996	373.31	850.67
4.	1996-1997	523.16	1,247.64
5.	1997-1998	593.32	1,685.62
6.	1998-1999 (Provisional)	600.60	1,866.25

SL	Year	Export of Non-Basmati Rice
SL	Year	Quantity ('000 tonnes)	Value (Rs. in Crores)
1.	1993-1994	565.19	225.46
2.	1994-1995	448.50	340.47
3.	1995-1996	4,540.70	3,717.41
4.	1996-1997	1,989.04	1,924.72
5.	1997-1998	1,795.74	1,685.37
6.	1998-1999 (Provisional)	4,340.18	4,334.55

SL	Year	Total Export of Rice
SL	Year	Quantity ('000 tonnes)	Value (Rs. in Crores)
1.	1993-1994	1,092.42	1,286.72
2.	1994-1995	890.63	1,205.79
3.	1995-1996	4,914.01	4,568.08
4.	1996-1997	2,512.20	3,172.36
5.	1997-1998	2,389.06	3,370.99
6.	1998-1999 (Provisional)	4,940.78	6,200.80

Source : Annual report of Ministry of Agriculture, (Dept. of Agriculture & Co-operation), New Delhi.

Besides, with the opening of new markets like Japan, Korea and Indonesia under WTO regime and also due to the removal of minimum export price by the Govt. of India, the export of Indian Rice in general and of non-Basmati rice in particular have increased tremendously. The competition from Pakistan's Basmati, USA's Texamati and Thailand's Siamati were also responsible for decrease in the share of Basmati rice in India's export.

In the 80's, much of Indian Basmati Rice had gone to USSR and less quantities exported among other countries. The export share of USSR by the end of 80's decreased slightly while the share of other countries, particularly to Saudi Arabia, had increased substantially. The Indian Basmati Rice was exported to Saudi Arabia in considerable quantities by the end of 1997-98 and the share of USSR had gone down considerably by then. Thus the share of Gulf countries as a whole has increased significantly over the years.