Dr.Anuradha Saha and Dr.Vijay Bharti
The wonder grain, basmati has been eulogized for several centuries in India. No other rice in the world dare not compete for fame, luminescence and aura that it wears. Right from time immemorial it remained on royal menus of various cultures as the main dish. From the ‘Pilav’ of Turkey, ‘Polou’ of Persia, ‘Pilaffs’ of the Steppes, to the ‘Pulau’ of Indians it has been served to great Sultans, Maharajahs, Shahs and Emperors. India remained and is still a natural repository for various types of rice, including the scented rice. Among these, basmati – the queen of rice, is traditionally cultivated along the foot hills of the Himalayas for centuries of years and has fully imbibed in the cultural ethos of the people. The word Basmati originated from word Vasumati which means earth recognized by its fragrance and in Sanskrit the word Vasay for Basmati has been used and the full exposition in Hindi has changed it to ‘Bas’ and ‘mati’ . In Ayurveda, its inner meaning is saatvic or pure and is nourishing for the body tissues and is easy to digest. The four distinctive quality features of Basmati rice that distinguishes it from other rice types is the pleasant aroma, long slender grains, extreme grain elongation and soft non sticky texture of cooked rice. It is established fact that Basmati rice produce better aroma when the cultivars are exposed to cool weather conditions during ripening. Basmati rice also exhibits location effect quite considerably and this is the reason for the best quality of Basmati rice being grown in traditional areas due to an interaction of genotype, soil and environmental factors. Basmati growing pockets are confined to Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Dehradun region of Uttaranchal and Jammu region especially R.S.Pura of Jammu and Kashmir. Basmati 370 which is locally called as Purani Basmati in Jammu is the first wonder Basmati variety released during pre independence era and is still more preferred because of its taste and aroma which no other variety has been able to match . Basmati went to backstage due to introduction of new coarse hybrids, extended technologies and minimum support price. The acreage under it had slumped considerably but all of sudden it has again comeback which can be realized from the fact that Uttaranchal has declared the whole state as organic which is having one-fifth of total rice area under Basmati and in Jammu region too the area under basmati has suddenly increased and the total production has almost doubled as compared to the total production levels of year 2000. The production and market rates of Basmati has brought it as matter for debate and discussion of many seminars and symposia and has adorned the pages of many books, magazines and news world over.
The basmati rice becomes the cash crop as it fetches a hefty price in the national as well as international markets. Opening of open general licence(OGL) wayback in 1980 started the export of Basmati and recently as per the reports of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, about Rs. 19,400 crore worth of foreign exchange has been earned by the country . It has brought the prosperity and has provided employment opportunities to all those associated with it directly or indirectly. Regionally and internationally Basmati is back in focus and it can be realized from the fact that in Jammu itself the price of this long slender and lustrous grain possessing exquisite scent, sweet ambrosial taste and soft texture has almost doubled. The associated Government institutions, various supporting agencies like BEDF, APEDA and number of private players are playing active role in promoting this wonder grain but still lot has to be done for the most important in this chain that is farmer as still the productivity level of the most promising variety Basmati-370 or Purani Basmati is 30 percent below the attainable figure. The high return from Basmati not only affected the economic status of the farmers, but has also made an impression on their thinking process.
Farmers enjoying higher returns became return-conscious searches newer varieties, experiment with them and frequently and easily change the cultivar from which the high returns are not assured. Although basmati has brought forex earnings to the country and every one related to its production and trade has benefited, but the farmers share in the profit is still proportionally low. Price fluctuation and non-availability of input, especially the quality seeds, have been the major hurdles. The inclusion of new improved varieties and their protection through patenting and the provision of Geographic Indications , will boost both production and trade in future.
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