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New Delhi : In a major boost to India’s non-basmati rice exports potential, two consignments of 4.5 MT of patented ‘village rice’ sourced from Kumbakonam, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, by a start-up Udaya Agro Farm was exported on May 29, 2021, to Ghana and Yemen via air and sea routes. Enriched with protein, fibre, and a variety of minerals, ‘village rice’ is sourced directly from farmers of Thanjavur, also known as rice bowl of Tamil Nadu. APEDA assisted Udaya Agro Farm plans to increase volume of exports of ‘village rice’ in the coming months.
During the 2020-21, the shipment of non-basmati rice witnessed an impressive spike. The non-basmati rice exports were worth Rs 35,448 crore (4796 US$ Million) during April-March, 2021 against Rs 14,400 crore (2020 US$ Million) reported during April-March, 2020 period. The exports of non-Basmati have witnessed a growth of 146 % in Rupee terms and 137 % Dollar terms in 2020-2021, according to a PIB release.
Earlier this month, a consignment of rice was exported from the Paradip International Cargo Terminal, Odisha, to Vietnam. This was for the first time in recent years that non-basmati rice was exported from Paradip Port.
In March, 2021, the first consignment of ‘red rice’ from Assam was exported to the USA. Iron rich ‘red rice’ is grown in Brahmaputra valley of Assam without the use of any chemical fertiliser. The rice variety is referred as ‘Bao-dhaan’, an integral part of the Assamese food.
Non-basmati rice exports to African and Asian countries are undertaken from various ports of India such as Kakinada, Vishakhapatnam, Chennai, Mundra, and Krishnapatnam. Paradip will soon emerge as one of the major rice-exporting port of the country.
APEDA is working with various stakeholders such as farmers, entrepreneurs, exporters, and importers across the globe to harness India’s non-basmati rice exports potential. It has promoted rice exports through collaborations with various stakeholders in the value chains. The government had set up the Rice Export Promotion Forum (REPF), under the aegis of APEDA. REPF has representations from rice industry, exporters, officials from APEDA, ministry of commerce and directors of agriculture from major rice producing states including West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.