Export Potential of Basmati Rice (2024)

Basmati rice is mostly grown in the traditional areas of north and north western part of Indian sub-continent for many centuries. The super-fine best quality of Basmati rice is produced on either side of Indus valley in India. Its different varieties are mostly cultivated in the districts of Karnal, Panipat, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Amritsar, Fatehgarh, Gurudaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Patiala, Ropar and Sangrur in Punjab; Kangra, Solan, Una, Mandi and Sirmour in Himachal Pradesh; Bundi in Rajasthan and in several districts of Uttar Pradesh. Some important districts of Uttar Pradesh are Saharanpur, Muzaffar Nagar, Piliphit, Bareily, Bijnour, Moradabad, Jyotibaphule Nagar, Rampur, Raibareily, Sitapur and Udham Singh Nagar; Haridwar and Dehradoon in Uttaranchal. Also, Basmati rice is grown to limited extent in Jammu and Kashmir. Various aromatic varieties of Basmati rice grown in India is given in Table-1.

The total area presently under cultivation of Basmati rice is about 7,76,000 hectares in India and its production estimated at about 11,96,000 tonnes during 1998-99. There is a substantial increase of Basmati in traditional Basmati growing areas. The largest area under Basmati rice is in the State of Haryana (60%) followed by Uttar Pradesh (17.1%) and Punjab (16.1%). During 1998-99, the State of Haryana contributed nearly 55% of the total Basmati rice production in the country followed by Uttar Pradesh at 23.5% and Punjab at 12.4%. The productivity of Basmati rice ranges from 15 to 18 Quintals/Hectare. The lower yield of Basmati rice is known for its tall and weak stature of the plant causing lodging. Besides, poor response of the fertilizers, susceptibility to pests and diseases and less number of spike lets per panicle. State-wise area, production and yield of Basmati rice during 1997-98 to 1999-2000 are given in Table-2.