MP’s inclusion in Basmati area will spell doom for Punjab farmers’ — By From Our Bureau | Oct 19, 2017 12:16 am
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New Delhi : The Punjab Government has opposed inclusion of Madhya Pradesh in the areas earmarked for growing the basmati rice, asserting that it would spell doom for the farmers in Punjab and other approved states by way of drop in the Basmati prices that have just increased by 50% over last year. Its protest comes even as the GI (Geographical Indication) registry is expected to include Madhya Pradesh in the list of the Basmati growing areas by this month end. It has already asked the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) to include rice from Madhya Pradesh for GI tagging for the purpose of exports. Madhya Pradesh had sought inclusion of its 13 districts in the GI area for basmati.
The Punjab Government has, however, written to APEDA not to accept rice from Madhya Pradesh as the basmati variety. Basmati rice is produced even in some districts of Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat, but the Agriculture Ministry last month decided to allow the GI certification right to grow this rice variety to only seven states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Western UP and two districts of Jammu and Kashmir, all lying in the Indo-Gangetic plains. The All India Rice Exporters Association has also approached APEDA in support of Punjab‘s claim. Its President Vijay Kumar Setia has warned that once India expands the GI area by including Madhya Pradesh, other rice growing states will also start demanding that their rice too be recognised as basmati rice. He warned that Pakistan may also follow suit by declaring more area in the country as basmati producing area. He said a judicial order favouring expansion of GI area will also mean that China, Ethiopia and Philippines, which have been claiming to grow basmati, will get precedence as they too will start selling their paddy as Basmati. His worry is that diluting the basmati tag will hit exports badly, specially at a time when exports are already down.