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Exports to Malaysia to reduce wastage of rice |
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India’s rice inventory as on June 1 was 32.1 million tonnes, against a target of 12.2 million tonnes. In May, stocks of rice were 32.9 million tonnes. Since 2009, the government has been keeping an additional 3 million tonnes of wheat and 2 million tonnes of rice as strategic reserves over and above monthly stocks. India is the world’s second-largest producer and consumer of rice (after China).
The inventory figures moved up due to a higher rice production. Higher rice output was not only a boon for the country, but, it also helped push up world rice output as well. According to the food and agriculture organisation (FAO), an arm of United Nations, statistics, world output of the key staple rose by 2.6 per cent to all-time high of 480.1 million tonnes (mt), helped mostly by record rice production in India. Global rice production had stood at 468.1 mt at the end of 2010.
FAO in its report also attributed the significant rise in world rice output to larger contributions by Asian countries in general. Asian countries like China, Pakistan and Vietnam have all harvested substantially larger quantity of rice. Countries like Cambodia, Malaysia, Nepal and Philippines too contributed meaningfully to world output. It would, however, be a wrong notion to believe that all Asian countries contributed equally significantly to world rice output, said Nilanjan Dey, director, Wishlist Capital. He pointed out that a series of setbacks, including floods, excessive rains and diseases depressed production in several Asian countries, including Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
FAO has painted a somewhat rosy picture for the future also. “Under expectations of normal weather and with the advancement of ambitious sectoral development programmes, world rice output is foreseen to grow by a further 1.7 per cent in 2012 to 488 mt (milled rice basis), notwithstanding some disappointing crop results in South America,” an FAO report said.
India has allowed rice exports after a ban of three years in October last year. And, soon after lifting of the export ban, India’s contribution in the global rice basket started growing significantly.
Besides higher production, lifting of export ban, a larger contribution to the world rice basket and brighter projections for world rice output, Dey of Wishlist mentioned some other positive factors, particularly from the Indian perspective.
“Malaysia has started exploring the options of wheat and rice imports from India against export of palm oil under a barter deal, Malaysia’s minister of plantation industries and commodities, Bernard Dompok, had hinted during the Malaysia-India Palm Oil Trade Fair and Seminar, 2012, a couple of days ago. Malaysia imports 30 per cent of its annual rice consumption of 2.5 million tonnes from various countries. And, India’s contribution to Malaysia’s total wheat and rice supplies remains negligible, despite a glut in stocks of the two major staple foodgrains in India. If this barter deal, as proposed by the Malaysian minister comes through, it would certainly take care of India’s storage problems, particularly in the wake of increasing productions, which often leads to the uncalled for spoilage,” said Dey.
For Malaysia too, India would be an assured supplier of rice and wheat as well.
On the export front (ever since the resumption of rice exports), India has had an advantage over Pakistan. In fact, India has made Pakistani rice exports quite difficult by selling its commodity at cheaper rates and capturing the Gulf and West Asian markets, Dey said, adding that India should not lose this advantage at any cost.
Source : wrd.mydigitalfc.com
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