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Prices of PUSA Basmati soar |
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PATIALA: Bringing some relief to farmers of Punjab, prices of Basmati rice PUSA 1121 variety has witnessed a surge of around 20-25 per cent in the past one week in various grain markets of Punjab.
This variety, which would otherwise reap profit much higher than regular variety, had been fetching no more than Rs 1,700-1,800 per quintal until two weeks ago. The low price of the variety had created negative sentiment among peasants, who preferred to stock their yields back in their stores instead of selling it in open market. However, weeks after farmers' reluctance to sell their yield, prices have bounced back. Now, PUSA 1121 is being sold at Rs 2,400-2,500 per quintal in various grain markets of this region.
"Due to low prices in first week of this month, farmers who could afford to hold back their crop had preferred to not to sell it immediately. This prevented a glut of PUSA 1121 in the grain market in the Punjab and led to increase in price, which has witnessed a rapid surge in the past 7-10 days," said Naresh Goyal, a rice exporter based in Patran town of Patiala district.
Balbir Singh, a Sangrur-based farmer, said, "Had farmers sold it at Rs 1,700-1,800 per quintal, it would have fetched per acre profit even less than the routine variety as per acre yield of this variety is lesser than regular paddy. But now prices are going high and most farmers are happy to sell it."
Rates of this long-grained commodity fell sharply in the export market in April-August this year as compared to the corresponding period in 2014. Rice exporters said rates of basmati rice had dropped due to weak international demand, quality issues and huge carryover stock estimated at 15-20% from last year.
As per the figures available with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), value of basmati export from India to other countries dropped by 23.23% in terms of US dollars and 18.4% in rupees in the five-month period beginning April 2015 till August-end, even though the volume of trade jumped by 16.92%.
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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