Basmati norm shift to hurt India, says Apeda chief

Airing concerns over the proposed inclusion of evolved varieties in the Basmati rice category...

Airing concerns over the proposed inclusion of evolved varieties in the Basmati rice category, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) chairman K S Money on Monday cautioned against such a move. “Any dilution in the definition (of Basmati Rice) is not in the commercial interest of India,” he said.

Money also stated that if the definition is changed, Pakistan would get more benefits as it has more evolved varieties, while India can encash upon its traditional varieties peddling on their purity and authenticity. “While changing the definition, we should look at how it will affect our market,” he added.

The agriculture ministry wants inclusion of evolved varieties like ‘1121’ developed by Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa. The ‘1121’ variety has all other characteristics of Basmati except the direct lineage with traditional variety. The agricultural ministry has written to the commerce ministry for its view on change of the definition of Basmati by including the evolved varieties which have no direct lineage with the genes of traditional variety.

For any rice to be called Basmati there are three main parameters. First, it should be grown in a particular area, secondly it should have elongation and aroma and lastly any evolved variety should have at least one gene of a traditional variety.